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UP HILL AND DOWN DALE 
IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 




PlwUq 



[Loiiib.inli. 



ARCHAIC STELE OF ETRUSCAN WARRIOR. 
(Front PciiiciaJiCi', in Archavloi^ica! ^fnSl•Inl! at FloirnCi'. Tomb — Potiiil.) 



[Fruutispicce. 



UP HILL AND DOWN 

DALE IN ANCIENT 

ETRURIA 



FREDERICK SEYMOUR 



WITH A MAP AND 12 ILLUSTRATIONS 




NEW YORK 

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 

1910 









{All rif^hts reserved. 



PREFACE 

It was to the abandoned sites of Etruria, rather than 
to those still occupied, that the writer directed his 
^attention in this tour. Perugia', Corneto-Tarquinia, 
Cortona, and Arezzo, and other much-visited and 
often-describied cities have not therefore been in- 
cluded. That Orvieto and Viterbo — well-known cities 
also — have befen brought in, is to be explained by 
both cities being centres of Etruscan districts rather 
than being distinctly Etruscan themselves. 



"At last we all in turn declare 
We know not who the Cyclops were. 
But the Pelasgians ! those are true ? 
I know as much of them as you." 

W. Savage Landor. 



CONTENTS 

PART I 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. THEORIES UPON THE ORIGIN OF THE ETRUSCANS . II 

II. HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS ... 28 

III. ETRUSCAN RELIGION . . . .55 

IV. THE ARTS OF THE ETRUSCANS ... 62 

V. THE ETRUSCAN LANGUAGE . . . '73 

PART II 

I. VOLTERRA ...... 82 

II. VOLTERRA . . . . . .88 

III. THE MUSEUM AT VOLTERRA . . .95 

IV. THE NECROPOLIS AND THE TOMBS OF VOLTERRA . I05 

V. ROMAN, MEDIiEVALj AND MODERN VOLTERRA . Ill 

VI. THE BAPTISTERY AND THE VESCOVADO AT 

VOLTERRA . . . . . . I18 

VII. THE PALAZZO DEI PRIORI (MUNICIPIO), THE PALAZZO 

PRETORIO, THE PIAZZA MAGGIORE AT VOLTERRA 121 
7 



8 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

VIII. NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF VOLTERRA AFTER THE 

ROMAN PERIOD ..... I33 

IX. GROSSETO FOR RUSELL^ — RUSELLiE DESCRIBED I42 

X. VETULONIA ...... 153 

XI. POPULONIA ..... 168 

XII. COSA ....... 178 

XIII. VULCI ...... 187 

XIV. C^RE (CERVETERl) OR AGYLLA . . . 2o6 

XV. CHIUSI ...... 239 

XVI. ORVIETO ...... 258 

XVII. VITERBO ...... 286 

XVIII. VITERBO AND ENVIRONS — TOSCANELLA . . 295 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

ARCHAIC STELE OF ETRUSCAN WARRIOR . . Frontispiece 

(From Pomerance, in Archceological Museum at Florence. 

Tomb — Portal) 

FACING PAGE 

VETULONIA. ETRUSCAN WALLS OF THE ARX . . 29 

VOLTERRA. REMAINS OF ETRUSCAN WALLS WITHOUT THE 

CITY . . . . . . • 91 

RUSELL^. PART OF ETRUSCAN WALLS . . . I46 

TOMBA BELLA PIETRERA, ENTRANCE. VETULONIA . 1 64 

PELASGIAN WALLS. HARBOUR OF ORBETELLO . . 179 

COSA (ANSEDONIA). ETRUSCAN WALLS . . . 180 

INTERIOR OF THE GROTTA DEI RILIEVE, CERVETERI , 219 

RECUMBENT STATUE OF LARTHIA SEIANTI . . . 254 

(Florence Archceological Museum) 

ETRUSCAN TOMBS ON NORTH SIDE OF THE CITY OF 

ORVIETO ...... 260 

AN ETRUSCAN SARCOPHAGUS RECENTLY DISCOVERED AT 

TOSCANELLA . . . . . . 295 

NECROPOLIS OF NORCHIA, NEAR VITERBO . . 304 

9 



Up Hill and Down Dale in 
Ancient Etruria 

PART I 

CHAPTER I 

THEORIES UPON THE ORIGIN OF THE ETRUSCANS 

Some fifty years ago when the great treasures of Art 

throughout the ancient Land of Etruria were being 

disinterred, — the minds of archaeologists were greatly 

exercised as to the provenance of that mysterious 

Etruscan Race, which had once possessed itself of the 

greater portion of the Italian Continent. Although 

certain ancient writers had spoken of the Etruscans 

and their supposed origin, from the Father of History, 

— Herodotus, — down to the times of Dionysius of Hali- 

carnassus, Strabo, Cicero, Pliny, Livy, Plutarch, and 

others — they had pronounced vaguely and unexhaus- 

tively ; and in flat contradiction of each other the 

two Writers of Halicarnassus had spoken. It seemed 

then to tnost of our modern authors difficult to accept 

the pronouncements of the earliest writers upon the 

origin of the Etruscan Race. As was only to ;be 

expected, the modern writers also differed widely 

u 



12 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

amongst themselves. Almost every inquirer, into the 
subject produced his awn theory. Niebuhr and Bun- 
sen were strongly in favour of an origin fromj the 
North ; Rhaetia was the precise spat of Etruscan 
birth. At all events Rhaetia was conveniently near 
to the Land where the Etruscan dran^a was played 
out. And " Rasena " having been noted as an 
Etruscan leader, what more probable origin for his 
name than that of Rhaetia? It will be unnecessary for 
the writer, and perhaps tedious for the reader, to 
discuss at this point the extremely various and often 
ingenious theories and views that were started upon 
the subject. It may be sufficient to state that to find 
a solution of the burning question alniost every Race 
under heaven was evoked, Pelasgi, Egyptians, Phoeni- 
cians, Hittites, Babylonians, Lydians, Ligurians, Celts, 
Basques, Finns, (I think even Irish,) were called 
upon to furnish the key to the great enigma. 

The Language was also declared to be of an 
agglutinative nature of a Turanian type. However, 
after some of the hottest and most prolonged debates 
ever known to the children of men, — no common 
ground of investigation having been agreed upon, — 
and no satisfactory solution either upon the origin 
of the race or of the language seeming possible, 
every one laid down his arms and admitted himself 
to be, — if not defeated, — hors de combat. 

Since those stirring days of barren contest, ex- 
hausted Archaeologists have turned their baffled ener- 
gies into other and less thorny fields, and the Etruscan 
Sphinx has been allowed comparative slumber. I 
think that the truce that was called was chiefly owing 
to the progress of the science of Ethnology. That 
science is in a state of flux. The Aryan theory espe- 
cially. Not many years ago, (it was chiefly under the 
aegis of the late Professor Max Miiller) we had 



ORIGIN OF THE ETRUSCANS 13 

decided that the fair Aryan Race had poured down 
from the Roof of the World, had peopled India, and 
then had flooded half Europe. Now that theory has 
been shaken. We are reversing our footsteps, — and 
are near to pronouncing the contrary, and are in- 
tending to repeople the East by a Teutonic or Sclavic 
flood from Europe. 

Perhaps we shall never get our Etruscan Dilemma 
extricated until we finally make up our minds whether 
our Etruscans are to be Aryan or Non -Aryan. And 
further, as to the Pelasgic Race, hitherto conceived 
of as the immediate precursors of the Etruscans in 
Italy, conquered by them and in a great measure 
expelled. Did this Pelasgic Race pr did they not 
commence thteir " peculiar civilisation," (in the build- 
ing-Art especially, ) in the Peleponnesus or in Italy?' 

But I am straying away from the Etruscans and 
their presumted origin. It will be as well to state 
upon the threshold of the subject what have been the 
chief theories about them. Thus the reader, — unless 
he may have already formed his own theory, — may 
adopt that which he believes to have the greatest 
probabilities in its favour. 

1st Theory. — The well-known pronouncement of 
Herodotus in favour of a Lydian Immigration into 
Etruria, which may be given here in his own words : 

" During the reign of Atys, son of Manfes, King of 
Lydia, a great scarcity of corn pervaded all Lydia. 
For some time thfe Lydians supported it with con- 
stancy, but when they saw thfe evil still continuing 
they sought for remiedies ; and some devised one 
thing, and some another ; and at that time the game 

' Vide a paper by Mr. W. J. Stillman contributed to the British - 
American Archaeological Society of Rome, March 6, 1888. 



14 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

of dice, hucklebones, ball, and all other kinds of 
games were invented, excepting draughts, (for the 
Lydians do not claim the invention of this last ; ) and 
having made these inventions to alleviate the famine, 
they employed them" (the games?) "as follows: 
they used to play one whole day that they might not 
be in want of food ; and on the next day they eat " 
(ate?) "and abstained from' play ; thus they passed 
eighteen years; but when the evil did not abate," 
(famine not to be appeased by gaming !) "but on 
the contrary became still more virulent, their King 
divided the whole people into two parts, and cast 
lots which should remain and which quit the country, 
and ov^r that part whose lot it should be to stay he 
appointed himself King ; and over that part which 
was to emigrate he appointed his own son, whose 
name was Tyrrhenus. Those to whose lot it fell to 
leave their country went down to Smyrna, built ships, 
and having put all their movables which were of 
use on board, set sail in search of food and land, till 
having passed by many nations, they reached the 
Ombrici " (I presume the Umbrians) " reached the 
Coast," (that looks as though the Umbrian territory 
stretched to the Adriatic?) "where they built towns 
and dwell to this day. From being called Lydians, 
they changed their name to one after the King's son 
who led them out ; from him they received the appel- 
lation of Tyrrhenians." ' 

Whatever faith the reader may place in the denoue- 
ment of this ingenuous drama, — i.e., in the Lydian 
emigration itself, — and there are many writers who 
still regard it with a kind of benevolent confidence, — 
surely the prologue thereof may be pronounced to 
be one of the most childish romances ever fathered 
by a responsible historian. That for eighteen years 

■ Translated by Henry Carey, M.A., from the Text of Baehr. 



ORIGIN OF THE ETRUSCANS 15 

a sore famine could be held at bay by a starving 
nation by the artless expedient of incessant gambling, 
or by such prophylactics to hunger as the blowing 
of trumpets, dancing, and leapings could afford, forms 
a tissue of fables that cannot be accepted as rational 
narrative by reasonable men, much less by those 
who have suffered from insufficient food. Nor would* 
any number of primeval Monte Carlos convince us 
to the contrary. 

Could ever an Enterprise of great pith and moment 
such as this Lydian emigration have developed out 
of such a Midsummer Night's Dream ! 

Yet Herodotus tells us this fairy-tale as though it 
were history, and makes no comments of his own. 
"They say," stood for history in his estimation. 
Some one said there were poets before historians ; 
and afterwards also, it seems. Yet it is amazing 
that such a farrago of fantasies should have been 
accepted, — at all events was not questioned — by the 
grave and reverend historians of ancient Rome. 
Cicero, Pliny, Livy, Strabo, and others have not dis- 
sented at least from the dictum of Herodotus. Nor 
was it ever shaken, — (dispelled it never has been,) 
until another historian, also of Halicarnassus, took 
upon himself to dissolve some of the cobwebs woven 
by his fellow -citizen of some six hundred years 
previously. 

That the civilisation, the arts, the pursuits, the 
luxury even, of the Etruscans were derived from an 
Eastern source, — and probably from some portion of 
Asia Minor, cannot be doubted. An Oriental charac- 
ter prevails throughout. Yet the points of resem- 
blance between the Lydians and the Etruscans do 
not suffice to establish the theory of Herodotus, li 
he had gone to Caria, or to Mysia, or to Phrygia 
even, for his emigration, he would have been on less 



16 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

debatable grounds. In Troy, for example, he would 
have found much closer analogies to Etruria. And 
finally, it might be asked as to the huge flotilla which 
must have been required for the embarkation of 
half a nation at the port of Smyrna ; what were the 
resources of Lydia, or of any known country at that 
early epoch of the world's history, to compass such 
a vast naval enterprise? Strabo gives a date of 470 
years before the foundation of Rome to the invasion 
of Italy by the Tyrrhenes. Possibly therefore before 
the " Fall of Troy." No country in the world at that 
time could have possessed a fleet, — or could have had 
a knowledge of navigation commensurate with such 
a formidable undertaking. The very idea that the 
Argonauts under Jason had been able to accomplish 
a voyage from Thrace to the Chersonese (perhaps 
not wholly a fable) had been sufficient to evoke a 
thrill of wonder at such a feat of navigation through- 
out the ancient world. If the host under the command 
of Tyrrhenus had got as far as Thessaly, we might 
have wondered also, but, that half -famished hordes 
upon galleys manned by hungry mariners should have 
been able to battle with the winds and waves as far 
as the Adriatic or even the Tyrrhenian Sea, makes 
a greater demand upon the imaginative powers than 
even the fabled wanderings of Ulysses or ^neas." 
That there is even a probability that at some time 
or other, there was a considerable emigration from 
some portion of Asia Minor into Italy, and that some 
Lydians, together with other races may have been 
swept into the ranks of Thessalians or Pelasgians 
who led the invasion may be admitted. But there 
is an inherent impossibility that that invasion could 
have been brought about in the fantastic fashion 

' "The Tyrrhenians who had come from Thessaly into Lydia, 
and from thence into Italy" (Plutarch's "Romulus"). 



OBIGIN OF THE ETRUSCANS 17 

related by Hferodotiis. And that impossibility, it 
appears to m^, disposes of the entire legend. 
Thus much for the Theory according to Herodotus. 

2nd Theory. — Let us turn now to that held by 
Dionysius. It is curious that the Theory promulgated 
by the older historian of Halicamassus should have 
been set ^.side by the younger, some six hundred 
years later. He declared himself in favour of an 
" autochthons " or indigenous origin of the Etruscan 
People. He starts on the assumption that had the 
alleged Emigration of the Lydian People ever taken 
place, the Lydian historian, Xanthus, would have 
ma,de some reference to the point. Instead of that 
Xanthus maintains an absolute silence. Xanthus has 
nothing to say upon a subject on which he could 
easily have informed himself. It may be observed 
that Xanthus wrote a few years previously to Hero- 
dotus himself. And Dionysius of Halicamassus in 
pursuance of his assertions proceeds further to de- 
clare that he foimd no resemblance whatever between 
the Lydians and the Etruscans ; neither in religious 
customs, nor social habits, — nor in language. I think 
that it jn^y be assumed that an acute and learned 
historian such as Dionysius was, would not have made 
such statements without mature deliberation. He 
would have put several questions to himself before 
committing himself to a final verdict. Was, for 
instance, the rteligious system' of the Etruscans to 
be found am;ongst the Lydians? >Wiere the Etruscan 
Deities with their cacophonous names such as Thalna, 
Sethlans, Phuphlans, &c., enveloped, too, in such a 
mist of weird and fantastic beings known to thfe 
Lydians and worshipped by them:? 

2. Those Lucumones and Lartes — had they coun- 
terparts in the political system' of the' Lydians? 

2 



/ 



18 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

-2)' Those weird pothooks and hajig^ers which form; 
the Etruscan language (but won't form' words), were 
they current in Lydia — or anywhere else? 

Dionysius then, finding such questions, and others 
similar to them, meeting with a direct negative, came 
to the conclusion that all were evolved from the coun- 
try where they were found, and that the Etruscans 
were an indigenous Race, 

Now, it is curious that the theory of Dionysius, to 
whom so; many sources of information — denied to 
his predecessors — must have been available, should 
never have been accepted, and, certainly, quite put 
aside by the moderns, whilst the legend narrated by 
Herodotus is still considered trustworthy. It might 
well be, mioreover, that Dionysius may have read the 
oft -mentioned but long ago vanished History of the 
Etruscans by the Emperor Claudius. It is certainly 
useless now to hazard any conjecture as to what line 
Claudius may have taken up as to the Etruscan Race.» 

Claudius was, as history tells us, not remarkable 
for his intelligence, but as the subject of the 
Etruscans seemed greatly to have exercised his mind, 
in ithe compilation of his history he was probably 
wise enough to avail himself of the wisdom of others . 

I venture, therefore, to express an opinion that 
Dionysius may have also got his " indigenous " 
theory from the history of this very Claudius. One 
immediate objection that lies in the pronouncement 
of Dionysius is the obvious one — How does Dionysius 
account for the art -proclivities of the Etruscans with- 
out the contact of some superior Race from without? 
He does not remark upon that aspect of the question 

' A bronze table found at Lyons hands down a fragment of a 
speech made by Claudius about Vibenna Caeles and Mastarna. 
That Claudius discoursed, as well as wrote, upon the subject proves 
him enthusiastic upon the subject 



ORIGIN OF THE ETRUSCANS 19 

at all. It must be remembered that in his day, most 
of those branches of Art in which we consider the 
Etruscans to have excelled were not visible. The 
Romans respected the Tombs, — perhaps in many parts 
of Etruria even ignored their existence. Certainly 
in the time of Dionysius they were ignorant of the 
Art -treasures contained in them. Yet the really 
strong position which Dionysius took up upon the 
Etruscan Question has been strangely overlooked 
and even dismissed without comment. It is quite 
erroneous, ^nd even misleading upon the part of 
some writers, to urge that the views of Dionysius, 
being founded upon a negation, — |[the silence of 
Xanthus) have therefore little weight. It is the 
belief of Dionysius in a certain ** Rasena " arid in ; 
a Race called after him and upon which Dionysius 
built up an " autochthons " origin for the Etruscan 
People that forms the pith and kernel of his theory.' 
I will quote Niebuhr's words as to the statement 
made by. Dionysius on the subject : " That the 
Etruscans looked upon themselves as an original 
people called Rasena and owing their descent to no 
other Race, and that they knew nothing of the names 
Tyrrhenian or Etruscan or of any Grecian tradi- 
tions respecting themselves." 2 

^ It may be inferred from the remarks made by Dionysius that he 
had conversed with one of the Etruscan people at least. He was 
told, he says, that that people claimed descent from a "Rasena." 
That they were not Tyrrheni, or Etrusci, nor Pelasgi. A little 
pressing upon the part of Dionysius might have elicited some 
definite information as to who "Rasena" was. Did he derive from 
Italy, or from some other region ? This hiatus in the remarks made 
by Dionysius is most regrettable. May it not be inferred from 
Dionysius' expressed opinion as to the autochthons origin, that the 
Etruscans spoke or wrote one of the ancient dialects of Italy ? His 
silence also upon that point is suggestive. 

' Lecture V. on History of Rome, 3rd English edition, 1852. 



20 m ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Other traditions respecting the Rasena, or Raseni, 
there are none, and thence probably the very scanty 
allusions to " Rasena " in subsequent times. Yet 
it peems strange when we consider how eagerly the 
slightest clue has been snatched at, that Rasena 
should have been buried in oblivion. 

The Greeks, says Niebuhr, had another tradition 
about the Tyrrhenians ; (or Etruscans) that of Hel- 
lenicus. He stated that Pelasgians from Thessaly 
had settled at Spina at the mouth of the Po, whence 
they proceeded across the mountains into Etruria. 
This very valuable suggestion was taken notice of by 
Dionysius, but he transfers this immigration to the 
Aborigines {i.e., Pelasgi?) Niebuhr continues : " The 
Italian antiquaries, on the other hand, have either 
clung to the Lydian tradition or referred this 
Pelasgian Immigration, from Thessaly, to the 
Etruscans." 

Further on we shall, I think, find some German 
scholars (also amongst the Italians as to the Thes- 
salian invasion. W<e do not hear that the opinions 
of Dionysius were laken up by any writer. The 
subject apparently did not interest the Romans of 
his. own or of any subsequent period. The thoughts 
of the literary class were directed to subjects quite 
other than those of ethnology ; the question was 
allowed to go to sleep. It may be said, that prac- 
tically there was no Etruscan subject until recent 
times. When it did revive we find Niebuhr, and 
other scholars in his train, starting quite a new 
origin for the Etruscan Race. It may. be called 
the third theory. 

Niebuhr held that the Etruscans were invaders 
from the Rhastian Alps. '- One of the northern 
tribes pushed southwards by the presence of those 



ORIGIN OF THE ETRUSCANS 21 

early migrations of nations which are as well estab- 
lished in history as the later ones." » 

One of Niebuhr's " points " as to the Rhastian 
origin jof that Race and of the name Rasena was that 
the term suggested Rhaetiai. Another point was that 
there Were remains of a fortification or building iri 
Alsace precisely of the Etruscan style of masonry. 
And further, that somewhere in the Tyrol, cinerary 
urns, articles of bronze, and even inscriptions had 
been found similar to those familiar to us in Etruria.2 

I imagine that Niebuhr chiefly based these remarks 
upon a p1;atement made by Micali. Micali said " that 
in July, 1813, the remains of a Temple to Mercury 
and an ancieirit inscription in Etruscan characters 
were dis;oovered not far from Trent. At Dos di 
Trento."3 

The opinions of so considerable an Authority did 
not lack supporters amongst the German School at 
least. Professor Muller, e.g., endorsed this Rhsetian 
Theory, with this difference ; that he placed the 
Rhaeti much sooner in Etruria and made the 
Tyrrhene-Pelasgi the later invaders. Professor 
Mommsen, too (notwithstanding his Phoenician pro- 

^ " Issuing from the passes of the Rhastian Alps, they fell upon, 
and overcame the Tyrrheni, the Pelasgi, i.e., whom they found 
possessed of Umbria, and the adjacent territories." 

"These were the Tyrrhenians that gave their name to the Western 
Coast of Italy, and to the T3n:rhenian Sea, and whom the Romans 
called Tusci. Both names were afterwards transferred to the Rasena 
who descended as conquerors from the Alps." 

Niebuhr's Lecture on the History of Rome, delivered in the 
years 1826-1828. Lecture V,, English edition of 1852. 

= The discoveries made at Hallstatt in the Grisons would fully 
account for the articles found in the Tyrol. Possibly the Hallstatt- 
trouvailles were subsequent to Niebuhr's day. 

3 Micali, "L'ltalia avanti II Dominio dei Romani." Milan 
edition, 1826. 



22 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

clivities), was inclined to regard the Etruscans as 
Rhaeti, and that chiefly upon the ground that the 
earhest inhabitants of Rhsetia spoke Etruscan. One 
must Hsten with respect to any pronouncement of so 
eminent an ^.uthority, although one wonders whence 
the writer drew this sweeping conclusion. The 
sources of information available to a scholar like 
Professor Mommsen must naturally be far more ex- 
tensive |than those open to a casual inquirer into 
the Etruscan mysteries. Livy, LV. '33, saysi : (I 
quote again from Micali) *' These mountain - 
people," (the Rhaeti) ■' in his time, barbarized by 
their savage environment, retained in their manner 
of speaking perceptible traces of the antiquity of 
their origin." Or, to put the quotation in a slightly 
differing form, as rendered by another translator, 
** The Rhsetian Alpine people were ' baud dubie,* 
of the same origin as Rasena, and spoke the same 
language in a ruder form." 

It was probably this remark of Livy upon which 
Mommsen founded his statement. 

Yet, (to return for a moment to Niebuhr's theory,) 
none of the remarks made by the older or the more 
recent Jiistorians cited above seem to make out a 
Rhaetian origin for the Etruscans. Indeed, some 
writers have been at pains to pronounce upon the 
alleged traices of an Etruscan Race in the Rhastian 
Alps ; that they would prove an emigration from 
the Plains of the Po Northwards, rather than the 
reverse. And they have, — in support of such an 
opinion, — suggested that when the Etruscans were 
driven out of their possessions in the Valley of the 
Po by the Gauls in the year 165 A.U.C., a large 
number of them, under the leadership of a Rhaetus 
(not fa Rasena), fled into the Alps. 

Niebuhr would not accept this suggestion, and 



ORIGIN OF THE ETRUSCANS 23 

even allowed himself, iii ordef to sweep it away 
altogether,— to hazard the astonishing statement 
" that no ancient writer had ever asserted that the 
Etruscans withdrew from the plains into the Alps 
in consequence of the conquests of the Gauls." Yet 
this is precisely the very assertion made by Pliny. i 

** Rhsetus, leader of the fugitive Etruscans after 
the Gaulish victory, established his stronghold in 
the mountains of the Rhsetian Alps, which, as it 
is said, derive their name from him." It is 
impossible to reconcile such directly diveiTgent 
expressions of opinion. 

Considering as a whole these views of Niebuhr, I 
cannot help expressing an opinion that they were too 
hastily formed. I doubt, moreover, that his views 
were ever cordially supported. They are certainly 
not so now. Nor do I think that Niebuhr himself 
would ,have gone to the stake for them. Yet it 
cannot be supposed that he saw anything of simi- 
larity between the names Rhastia and Rasena. So 
eminent a man could not have been led astray by 
the mere jingle of synonyms. Wie know how far a 
very ^.ncient historian went in that direction when 
he wanted a derivation for the Tyrrhenes. 

A fourth theory is that oi Professor Lepsius. 

He rejected the views of Niebuhr. and Miiller 
as to the Rhastian origin of the Etruscan Race, 
nor did he favour the Lydian tradition. Yet, he did 
consider jthat there had been a Rhaetian immigra- 
tion into the country previous to the Tyrrhene - 
Pelasgic Invasion, which, according to him, was the 
Etruscan one. It is not at all clear whether he 
desires us or not to infer that a Rhsetian language 
prevailed in Italy before the newcomers brought 
in their Pelasgic letters. If that was not his desire, 

' Pliny, III. 



24 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

one fails to perceive the object of bringing in the 
Rhaetians at all. He declared, however, for a 
Tyrrhene -Pelasgic immigration subsequent to a 
Rhsetian one. According to him, the Tyrrehene- 
Pelasgi left Thessaly, (the supposed cradle of the 
Pelasgic Race) and entered Italy somewhere to the 
North of the Adriatic Sea. They then proceeded to 
establish themselves about the mouth of the River Po, 
and before that they finally crossed the Apennines, 
had already subdued the Umbrians, from whom they 
captured three hundred Cities. That the Umbrians, 
or Pelasgi-Umbrians, did lose three hundred Cities 
to the Etruscans has been mentioned by more than 
one ancient writer. Yet it appears difficult to believe 
that all these Cities could have been upon the 
northern side of the Apennines. Some of them 
one supposes to have been " strong places " rather 
than what we should term Cities. 

It seems clear that Professor Lepsius, in the above 
passage, was referring to the Etruscans — ^not to the 
original Pelasgic conquerors of Italy. Yet he goes 
on to say that from this superimposition of a Pelasgic 
Race upon an Umbrian stock was evolved the 
Etruscan nation I 

Such were Lepsius' views, and although perhaps 
they would invite some examination for which the 
present writer certainly has not the requisite know- 
ledge, it may be briefly noted that this theory has 
been more generally accepted than any other, and is 
one which chiefly finds favour at the present time.' 

Miiller's opinions upon the question seem to differ 
very little from those of Lepsius. 

It is now long since that the Phoenician claims 
to occupy the vacant throne of the Etruscans were 

' Dionysius of Halicarnassus was of the opinion that the Etruscans 
founded their Empire upon the ruins of the Pelasgic and Umbrian 
power. 



ORIGIN OF THE ETRUSCANS 25 

ur^g^ed. There were many advocates, but few of 
them authoritative, and none at all now. And it 
would have been strange if a People once so pro- 
minent, although almost as mysterious in their origin 
and ,history as the Etruscans themselves, had been 
overlooked in the long list of pretenders to that 
shadowy realm. That the Phoenicians had created a 
great and long-enduring Colony such as Carthage, so 
powerful as to have disputed with Rome the sove- 
reignty of the world, certainly seemed to offer good 
igrounds for belief that they might have laid the 
foundation of another Empire some three or four 
hundred years previously. By those who favoured 
the Lydian immigration, it was said to be a 
Phoenician -Lydian one ; others supported the 
theory of a: Phoenician -Egyptian Invasion of 
Italy. This la,tter school said that Phoenicians 
had colonised the Egyptian Delta under the 
Hyksos or Shepherd-Kings. That they had 
been driven out of Egypt by the subsequent 
Dynasty, and had thereupon betaken themselves en 
masse to Italy, and, having overcome there the ruling 
Race, had called the country Tyrrhenia from their 
ancestral City of Tyre, and themselves Tyrrhenes. 
It was a novel suggestion, almost an Herodotean 
one, but scarcely an ingenious one. For there ap- 
peared to be very little to support it except the 
existence of so many gold ornaments in the country 
which were declared to be of a" Phoenician -Egyptian 
character. iWhilst the arguments against a 
Phoenician origin seemed to be overwhelming. 
Carthage never alluded to Etruria as a sister-nation. 
Neither the Etruscan language nor the Etruscan re- 
ligion had anything in common with the Phoenician. 
All alphabets with which we are acquainted were 
based upon the Phoenician. 

How ox why the Phoenicians should have aban- 



26 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

doned the unique position held by them' in Palaeo- 
graphy, should have forgotten! their own letters, and 
have substituted the barbarous jargon of the Etrus- 
cans, formed enigmas insoluble by the everyday 
mind ; why, furthermore, they should have cast away 
their beloved idols, Astarte and Thaumuz, &c., and 
have embraced the distorted cacophonous deities of 
the Etruscans such as Sethlans, Turans, Phuphlans, 
&c., no man offered any explanation. Or if, as was 
alleged, arriving from Egypt, and having there 
adopted perhaps the gods and usages of Egyptians, 
— why did they not import into Etruria something of 
an Egyptian character? Should we not have expected 
to discover in Etruria some similarity in customs, in 
religion, or in the manner of interring the dead? 
Yet we find no mummies, no ritual of the dead, not 
even the use of parchment, not a column nor a. frieze 
that can be pronounced to be of Egyptian style. 

But to those who refuse upon such grounds, a 
Phoenician origin to Etruria, those who urge one 
come down with their Tyrrhenian Sea, evidently, it 
is urged, called after the parent-city of Tyre, no 
matter how often and for what number of years 
Phoenician prows may have ploughed those waters in 
pursuit of Commerce, — the Gulf never could have 
received such a napie from them or theirs. The term 
would have been Punic or Poenic, — never Tyrrhe- 
nian.^ There is, indeed, a small obscure hamlet 
upon the sea-coast a little north of Coere's old Port 
of Pyrgi, called Pupicum. Professor Mommsen laid 
some stress upon this point as having been a Phoeni- 

* Here, as regards this much-vexed question of the term Tyrrheni, 
it may be worth remarking that with some Greek authors the word 
used was " Tyrseni." Can we see here some approach to the word 
Rasena — Trasena, as it might possibly have been rendered ? If so, 
the Sea might after all be derived from the race known as Rasena — 



ORIGIN OF THE ETRUSCANS 27 

ciaW name. (He was also in favour of Agylla having 
been a! Phoeniciain City. Agylla, he said, was Phoeni- 
ciaji for '* Round Town.") Moreover, if it be 
necessary to push the argument further, why was the 
name not given father to the Tunisian waters, which 
really formed, as we should express it in modern 
parlance, a Carthaginian or Punic Lake? 

Again there is evidence to show that Tyre had 
once been called " Sur or Syr," and that hence 
" Syria " was so called. Ajud to return for a moment 
to the argument as to the ornaments of gold, bear- 
ing a; Phoenician-Egyptian character. It is quite 
possible that these were made in the country, and by 
Phoenician artists, for there is some reason to believe 
that the Phoenicians had a settlement in the Eastern 
portion of Italy at least. It is true that generally 
the authorities upon the subject are of opinion that 
the Phoenicians were merely intermedia;ries between 
Egypt and Etruria and also between Assyria and 
Etruria. And there is a prevalent idea too, that the 
Phoenicians had no Art of their own at all. Yet 
that statement seems to me too positive. The Island 
of Cyprus (occupied in part, for so long by the 
Phoenicians), so rich in ancient remains, proves quite 
the contrary. And if we go to Scripture for 
evidence of Phoenician skill in the fine arts, we 
cannot doubt but that the Temple of Solomon owed 
much to Phoenician artists. Yet it is not in details 
such as these that a similarity between Races can 
be established. Analogies can only be drawn from 
language, religion, and customs. And 'between 
Etruria upon the one hand and Phoenicia and Egypt 
upon the other, there are none. 

and not at all (and after all) from Tyrrhenus. And it may also be 
remarked that the term Tyrrheni has often been so loosely applied, 
and sometimes it refers to the later race — i.e., the Etruscans — and 
sometimes to their predecessors the Pelasgians. . j 



CHAPTER II 

HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS 

To what extent the great discoveries of ancient Art 
which have been made in Etruria in modern times 
would have caused Greek and Rornan historians to 
modify or to change their views respecting the origin 
of the Etruscan people would form a very interesting 
field of speculation. 

Yet to embark upon such an enterprise would be 
beyond the scope of this work and the ability of the 
writer. Suffice it then to observe, for the present, 
that those discoveries have placed us not only in a 
far better position for arriving at juster conclusions, 
but also upon an altogether different point of view 
than that which the old historians were in possession 
of. 

The modern Sciences of Ethnology, Philology, 
Palaeography, comparative Anatomy — in a word the 
study of Archaeology — have shouldered out and dis- 
placed the barren theories and inconsequent pro- 
nouncements of incurious historians. 

We stand upon an altogether higher plane. 

It is true that we have to rummage among dust and 
ashes of thousands of tombs for our records, — yet one 
such Sepulchre is a truer witness to the Etruscan 
past than all the ingenious conjectures of superficial 




< ^ 



HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS 29 

chroniclers. The Etruscans themselves are our only 
historians. 

The greatness of the nation is attested by the 
massive remains of their great city-walls. 

Their religious observaiices, their social customs, 
their beliefs, their refined tastes, and their luxury 
are written in their Sepulchres and in the contents 
of those tombs. Their Sarcophagi, their [cinerary 
urns, their sculptures, their paintings, their ivaseis, 
their jewels, their metal -work, their armour, indeed 
speak to us, for other language there is none. Verily 
a Dead Language. And the Etruscans, — because the 
visible proofs of their existence have to be disin- 
terred, — have appropriately enough been styled a 
geological Race. And yet it has to be confessed that 
despite all the assistance that Archaeology — (all the 
'ologies in fact — ) have been able to afford, and de- 
spite the information which the Etruscan Tpmbs have 
given us, a heavy pall of mystery continues to hang 
over the Etruscan Question. The very obscurity in 
which the origin of the Etruscan People is still 
plimged, renders any attempt to raise the veil per- 
missible. It certainly makes it so much the more 
engrossing. The puniest effort can scarcely render 
the mists thicket. ( I think that on points, " obscure 
as these, we may think what we will and think what- 
e'er we please." Yet in spite of very small preten- 
sions to elucidate a subject before which so many 
good and ripe scholars have quailed, I have found 
encouragement in a remark made by Ausoniusi — 
quoted by Lanzi i : " One man aided by the dis- 
coveries of his predecessors although he cannot hope 
to exhaust the field of discovery may yet add some- 
thing to the sum total." Thus I may hope to escape 
the charge of presumption even if I incur that of 
* " Saggio di Lingua Etrusca." Lanzi, 1787. 



^ 



30 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

being a bore. And this feeble rushlight of mine, 
the very spark of which has been kindled at thje 
torches of others, may even serve to shed a gleam 
upon some point or another that has been left in 
darkness even if it may not dispel all the gloom. 
Very much as when you descei;d into an Etruscan 
painted tomb — the inferior dip with which the Custode 
presents you, may fling a ray upon some obscure 
nook which the torch of the Custode himself had 
failed to illuminate. 

In entering, then, upon the Etruscan 'Question we 
may claim to have received sufficient light to enable 
us to enter the threshold at least. 

Two or three points have been elucidated. 

We have learjied, approximately, the epoch when 
the Etruscan Invasion of Italy took place, and by 
what Races the country was occupied when the 
Etruscans arrived. ^ 

Upon the authority of Strabo and Varro, — and they 
have been generally followed as Authorities — the 
Commencement of the Etruscan Era has been dated 
as more than, four hundred years before the Founda- 
tion of Rome .2 

Modem historians have with little variance 
accepted that date. (Niebuhr, in fact, would assign 
the Etruscan Era as one hundred jand forty years 
earlier. Miiller and Helbig are in accord as to a 
hundred years or so later. Professor Pigorini con- 
siderably later again. Deferring, then, until later 
our attempts to ascertain whence the Etruscans 
came — (for we are unable wholly to accept the " in- 

* Strabo gives the date as 470, Varro as 430-4-. Varro, however, 
is speaking of the final subjugation of the Pelasgi-Umbri by the 
Etruscans. The war between these rival nationalities would have 
been naturally an affair of some years. 

' The Foundation of Rome is assigned to the year 753 B.C. 



HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS 31 

digenous " theory, of Dionysius) — let us concern our- 
selves with the aspect of the map of Italy, in the 
1 2th Cejitui'y B.C. 

The History of the Etruscans after the Foundation 
of Rome is fairly well known, and we have no lack of 
that from the time of their first coming into contact 
with the Ropaans to the time of their absorption by 
that Power;. 

Generally speaking, Italy was then occupied by 
Races of the Dscatii Stock. The Salnjiites werle, 
established ill the Regions now known as Apulia 
and Campania. The Umbrians upon both sides of 
the Apennines from the Tyrrhenian Sea; to the 
Adriatic airid Northwards so far as the Po and the 
Ticino Rivers. In the niountainous Regions between 
the Umbriap,s and the Samnites, the Sabines ' — (the 
most apcient of Races) had their seats. Beyond 
them, again, so far as the Tyrrhenian Sea the Latins 
were in possession. 

iWhepce and when thes^ several Races had origi- 
nally arrived no man has yet told, but that these 
were, — so far as history knows, — the primitive in- 
habitants, is certain. 

kWhen we first know anything about these Peoples, 
they are foun,d to be in the Pastoral and Agricultural 
stages. Their forms of government were Similar, 
each ruled by and hfeld together by an oligarchical 
federalism, under the dominion of priests and nobles. 
So much so with the Samnites that there the priestly, 
rule had degenerated into an absolute Druidism'-, 

At this epoch the Gaulish Race had not yet 
appeared in Italy. The Ligurians and other Iberians 
(in most remote times from Africa) dominated in 
the W«st and North, far away from; the Umbrians ,iand 

^ The Sabines, a people of the remotest antiquity, whose origin 
cannot be ascertained, Strabo says. 



32 m ANCIENT ETRURIA 

away from the Lakes and Marshes which pccupied 
so mlich of the North-W«st country. Upon the 
Adriatic and Ionian Seas, Illyrians and Pelasgians 
by continuous irruptions were keeping the neigh- 
bouring tribes in a chronic ferment. There were 
two Cities then upon the Adriatic Sea, one in 
Picenum, and one in the Veneto, called Adria or 
Hadria, and in the district between those Cities were 
to be found settlements of the Atri — a Race thought 
to be of Phoenician stock. These Phoenicians were 
considered to have settled here after having been dis- 
possessed of their native soil by the Israelites upon 
their return from Egypt in 1632 B.C. This Colony 
of Atri, (of supposed Phoenician origin) is thought 
to have given the name to the Adriatic Sea. 

It is noteworthy here to recall a tradition that 
the name of the Etruscans was derived from Atro- 
Oschi. But long before the appearance of the 
Etruscans in Italy, and even before the Race- 
fermentation upon the shores of the Adriatic Sea 
above alluded to,— a great Pelasglc immigration into 
Italy had already taken place. For that immigra- 
tion no date can be a.ssigned. These Pelasgi, how- 
ever, are found upon the Tyrrhenian Sea at a very 
remote period. They had driven, — ^probably in 
alliance with the Umbri, whom they had incorporated 
after their conquest of that Race,i — the Siculi out 
of Italy, and are now found in possession of Italian 
historical-sites such as Agylla, (afterwards styled 
Caere), Cortona, Falerii, Saturnia, and other cities 
which afterwards fell into the hands of the Etruscans. 
This ubiquitous Race, known as the Pelasgi, are 
supposed to have last come from Thessaly, but at 
one period or another they are found everywhere 

* The Siculi had been, it it supposed, driven out of Italy by the 
Pelasgi-Umbri before the arrival in Italy of the Etruscans. 



HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS 33 

in the South-East of Europe. That they had at one 
time or another occupied the greater portion of 
Greece seems clear, — as Greece was once known as 
Pelasgia. They seem — it is not easy to say whether 
previously or afterwards — to have been in Asia Minor, 
to have colonised many of the islands in the 
Grecian Archipelago. Mycense, too, Tiryns, and 
Argos were Pelasglc Cities, and were probably built 
by them, and certainly occupied by them, perhaps 
1700 B.C. or more, and when the ^gean Art -epoch 
was commencing. 

So large a portion of Greece and Italy indeed had 
been Pelasgian in pre -historical times that it would 
peem easier to pronounce where the Pelasgi had 
prevailed rather: than where they had not. I shall 
not pursue for the present the traces of this earlier 
elusive Race. Yet, as it was with that People as 
Tyrrhenes, or as Pelasgo-Umbrians, that the Etrus- 
cans very early in their history came into conflict, — 
the existence of that Race in Italy, has to be taken 
into consideration. 

We were contemplating a few pages back the 
Igeographical condition of Italy at the time of the 
Etruscan Invasion and the various Races by whom 
it was occupied, and our attention was particularly 
directed to that extreme portion of Umbria which 
extended towards the Adriatic Gulf, and we have 
learned that upon the shores of that Sea there had 
set in a very remarkable tide of invasion ; that fL 
congeries of Illyrians, Pelasgians, and Thessaliari 
Races from Asia Minor, and even Phoenicians, had 
settled down upon these shores. Attracted by what? 
One can scarcely be in doubt that it was the hope 
of gain, of trade, of commercial advantages. In 
short, attracted by the same things which drew 
English, Germans, Swedes, Dutch, and others to New 

3 



34 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

York. Both coasts of the Adriatic Sea would have 
offered to the motley hordes that were being slowly, 
shaped into a. compact and aggressive Power, 
innumerable opportunities for naval enterprise or for 
piratical incursions. We may suppose that they took 
full advantage of their opportunities. And if the 
Phoenicians, as we believe, formed a large pprtion 
of them, we can imagine that their excursions would 
not have been limited to the Adriatic Gulf. It is, 
quite possible that it was upon those waters that the 
Etruscans first acquainted themselves with the rudi- 
ments of navigation, a science which was in later 
times upon the Tyrrhenian Sea to establish their 
fame throughout the world. Yet at the early time 
to which I am at present referring, it was in the 
Valley of the Po and in the Umbrian Valleys rather 
than upon the Ocean that the Etruscans were seek- 
ing to test their strength. For in this portion of 
Italy it was, as I conceive, that the Etruscan Power 
became moulded into shape. It was out of these 
heterogeneous n;asses of diverse nations that I 
imagine the Etruscans to have been evolved. And 
at this point of the narrative it may well be asked : 
Among a.11 these warring elements of diverse tribes 
whose was the shaping and guiding hand? A Nation 
cannot leap into form of itself, " the noble work 
of Chance." iWho were the leaders of this infant 
nation? Under what hegemony was it welded into 
such a power that the greater portion of Italy 
became Etruscan? It is here that " Rasenna " ' 
comes to the fore. Some masterful Race or tribes of 
that name— probably of Oscan stock, — which had been 
long, perhaps, awaiting the hour of amalgamating 
and welding together these polyglot hordes for their 

' Niebuhr was in favour of the name being thus spelled. Yet the 
name is more commonly written " Rasena." 



HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS 35 

own purposes. Amongst the hilly regions which 
encompass Felsina? Or round about the Estuaries 
of the Po, somewhere betwixt Ferrara and Hadria? 
Or at Spina itself— a most ancient settlement? Who 
shall pronounce? They called themselves Rasena, or 
Raseni, from the name of their leader, says Dionysius, 
— when he inquired of the then Etruscans whence they 
had come. But, as has been noted, he did not pursue 
the question, having, for other, no doubt, valid but 
unexpressed reasons, satisfied himself that the people 
had arisen out of an indigenous stock. 

.We have also seen, — and remarked, perhaps too 
curtly, that Niebuhr and the German authorities; 
much too superficially had endeavoured to saddle 
Rhsetia with the Rasena;. " The Germans," says 
Signor Guerri, quoted above, i " fantasticated upon 
the fancied similarity between the names of those two 
Races." We thank Signor Guerri for that blessed 
word " fantasticated." 

And we must not withhold expressions of gratitude 
to Dionysius that he in part cleared the way by his 
mention of " Rasena," and so disposed at least of 
the shadowy Tyrrhenus and of his fantastic and 
famished legions. Thus far, then, we may follow 
Dionysius, — as far, i.e., as regards the hegemony 
of Rasena. ''Yet, as we have ventured to conjecture, 
the hosts, these Atri-Oschi, Etruscans as they were 
to become from the blending of the names, must 
have consisted of many diverse nations. It is very 
singular indeed how very little historians, ancient 
and modern, have concerned themselves with Rasena 
or the Raseni. Yet the name of that leader was one 
of the very few certain landma;rks o;i: epoch-marks that 
we possessed. And we may now proceed upon our 

* "Moderni scuttori, specialemente tedeschi, fantasticando fra i 
nomi di Raseni e di Rezia," &c. Guerri, "Fiesole eil suo Comune." 



36 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

road, — dark as it may be, — having rejected the burden 
of Rhaetia and finding therein no more similarity to 
Rasena than to Russia or Rameses. 

How long it may have been that the process of 
moulding and shaping the Atri-Oschi, " duc^ 
Rasena," went on, — ^may be, — must be, a matter of 
pure (conjecture. 

The new Nation had not only to grow up. It 
had to be educated as well as amalgamated. 

One of the earliest notices of the Etruscans in 
this Eastern portion of Italy — is contained in an 
alleged .attack made by them upon the Terramare 
Tribes, who were largely possessed of territory in 
the Valley of the Po. These Terramare races are 
said to have been still in the Iron Age. They con- 
tinued to build in the manner of their lacustrine 
forefathers Lake -dwellings upon terra-firmd.^ The 
Etruscans ^drove them forth, and the dispossessed 
people had to seek another country. One more 
Race had been added to the swollen list of the 
migratory and wandering peoples of those early 
times. Professor Pigorini is inclined to the 
opinion that in this fleeing Race may be discerned 
the (progenitors of Rome. For this Race seems to 
have been of a" Celtic -Umbrian stock, and, — he goes 
on to say, — that thereupon ensued between pursuers 
and pursued a sort of fateful race for the banks of 
the Tiber. That the Conquered kept along the left 
bank and journeyed onwards to the Alban Hills, 
whence one day Rome was to be founded ; and 
that the Etruscans struck North and Westward, 
always upon the right bank of the River, founding 
in the course of ages innumerable cities and towns. 
Signor Pigorini places this overthrow of the Terra- 

' Professor Pigorini. 



HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS 37 

mare Races in the i ith Century. Far too late, in 
my humble opinion, for the arrival of either Race 
in the Valley of the Tiber ; and would it not also 
have been too early for the Iron Age in Italy? 
It has been customary to suppose that the age of 
Iron ,had superseded that of the Bronze in Italy 
about the loth Century. 

To return, however, to that part of Italy which 
is more especially engaging our attention. It must 
have been very early in the Etruscan Period that 
Felsina (Bologna), one of the most ancient, famous, 
and important of Etruscan Cities, was founded. 

Mr. Dennis, in speaking of Bologna,— for it is 
almost needless to say that that ardent Etruscologist 
found in this district a rich and suggestive field 
for his investigations — observes : " Bologna seems 
to hold an unique position in Etruscan history, not 
only from its geographical position, far removed 
from the principal Etruscan sites upon the other 
side of the Apennines, but from' the ethnographical 
peculiarities in the remains of Art discovered there." 

And he directs attention especially to the famous 
Necropolis of Villanova, which lies about five miles 
E.S.E. of the City, as well as to the nearer Cemetery 
of the Certosa. Of the Villanova Cemetery,— which 
is very small, though packed with tombs, he says : 
" The tombs generally are referred to the Iron Age. 
Some contain the whole skeletons ; some, ossuary- 
pots (as distinguished from the cinerary urns). No 
painted tombs have been discovered in this part of 
Italy. Some of the tombs are ascribed to the 
Pelasgians and some to the Umbrians." What is 
especially noteworthy here is the superimposition of 
Etruscan tombs over those of the Umbrians whom 
the Jltruscans had subjugated. A further ethno- 
graphical link in the historical chain which here 



38 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

has brought together so many Races is the presence 
of tombs of the Boian Gauls, that particular tribe 
which was subsequently to drive out the Etruscan 
Race from one of their primitive seats. That event 
occurred in the year 396 B.C. 

Felsina was to become Bononia — the City of the 
"Booi." From "Bononia" to "Bologna" is but 
an easy transition. One would have supposed that 
Felsina, from its position and fame, should have 
been one of the Twelve Cities of the Confederation. 
Yet I do not think that any writer has ever made 
that Suggestion ; nor is there any account of Felsina 
as a City with iWalls. That absence of •" walls " 
is difficult to account for, especially in the instance 
of ^ [city so far removed from the other principal 
seats of the Confederation. This negligence, so con- 
spicuous (and so uncharacteristic of the Etruscans, 
must (have had much to do with their subsequent 
defeat and rout by the Boian Gauls. 

To return, then, to the contemplation of the rise 
of the Etruscan power, about four hundred years 
before the Foundation of Rome. (For I am unable to 
agree with Professor Pigorini's alleged race betwixt 
Etruscans and Celtic-Umbrians referred to a little 
above.) What motives may have urged the Etruscans 
after they had dispersed the Terramare Races, to 
further and more extensive undertakings we cannot 
pronounce. iWhy or how it was that they already 
found the Regions eastward of the Apennines in- 
sufficient ;for their needs, we can only conjecture. 
Perhaps, they may have been impelled forward by 
the momentum in rear of them, by the ever-increasing 
swarms of migrating Races, or urged onward by that 
earth-hunger so natural to a warlike and enterprising 
Race. 

It may very well have been — (a conjecture may 



HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS 39 

be hazarded where all is; more or less conjecture) — 
that the Umbrians, or the Umbri-Pelasgi, — the most 
powerful and intelligent of the Italian peoples, — and 
whom the Etruscans had already largely dispossessed 
in the Eastern portions, — were causing trouble upon 
the Western side of the Apennines. Or it may be 
that ,the Etruscans were expecting, — or were even 
in communication with, friends and allies upon the 
shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and who might already 
have tfound themselves in conflict with the Umbro- 
Pelasgi. 

Ancient writers have somewhat dwelt upon the 
amalgamation of the Pelasgic and Umbrian Races in 
Italy. I have above mentioned that the Pelasgians 
are supposed even to have absorbed that Race into 
themselves. The Pelasgians were assuredly in 
possession of certain Cities in Tuscany at one time, 
Agylla, Cortona, and others, and of Ports upon the 
Tyrrhenian Sea. Yet I think it much more probable 
that (the Umbrians were the superior Race. iWe 
read afterwards that when the Etruscans had asserted 
their power in Tuscany, the Pelasgians went off en 
masse to Greece. That event could not have hap- 
pened had the Pelasgi been fully incorporated with 
the Umbri. It would have been extremely interest- 
ing to us could we have learned where and in what 
manner the Etruscans passed into Umbria and thence 
into Tuscany : — whether they divided their forces, 
sending one of their armies through the Valley of 
the Po and marched as far, perhaps, as Limi, — the 
modern Spezia, — the extreme northern border of the 
Etruscan power, — and thence coming down upon Vol- 
terra and Fiesole ;--or whether they broke through 
the Apennines at several points with other armies? — 
iWe have no information to guide us. Yet, as we 
find them seated at an early, period of their history 



40 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

in places such as Arezzo and Cortona,' we may 
assume, with some degree of probabiUty, that they 
marched along the roads which from Bologna cut 
the mountains somewhere about the modern 
Comacchia and Sasso di Castro, or they could have 
crossed the head-waters of the Tiber near Borgo 
S. Selpolcro or lower down near Perugia. But it 
would be beyond our powers and limits to attempt 
the settlement of such points. Suffice it to say that, 
in the course of their early history, the Etruscans 
are credited with the capture of three hundred 
Umbrian Cities. iWe have no data as to the period 
of the Etruscan occupation of cities North-.West of 
Felsina (Bologna) such as Mantua, Vicenza, or when 
they may have been in the vicinity of Como. iWhen 
they had determined to invade and occupy Umbria 
upon the W.est of the Apennines, they may also 
have taken the opportunity of sending an army to 
the North whilst they broke through the Apen- 
nines at various points. The force that at this period 
was under their control, must have been enormous. 
They were practically ubiquitous . And what Captains 
they must have had to direct those vast forces with 
a Moltke-like precision, taking up, as it seems, the 
pre-arranged points of concentration. And yet of 
all those Captains not one name has survived ! 

That the Umbro-Pelasgi, if we may still call them 
so, should have been in possession of so many Cities 
— although many of them must have been strong 
fortified positions rather than Cities, — ^not only proves 
the extent of the country and the power possessed by 
that Race, — ^which were things we knew of before — 

' According to Dionysius, the Pelasgi took this City from the 
Umbri, and the Etruscans captured it from the Pelasgi. The City 
is of extreme antiquity. Legend has it that from hence Dardanus 
went to found the City of Troy. 



HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS 41 

but ^Iso their civilisation. But the Pelas'gians were 
great mihtary Architects . It cannot but be believed 
that to conquer a country so strong in resources, and 
formidable, too, in the strength of long possession, 
must have been the work of very many years, and 
years of protracted struggle. But after years of 
protracted struggle the Etruscans did finally prevail 
and overthrew the Umbrians in a' battle which, 
according to Varro, must have been fought about 
four hundred and thirty years before the Founda- 
tion pi Rome. From that year we may date Ithe 
establishment of the Etruscan regime in Italy. 

iWe shall now be able to contemplate, — so far as 
our very limited lights permit us, — this extraordinarily 
elastic Race consolidating their conquests and estab- 
lishing throughout the greater part of Italy a solid 
and homogeneous Confederation of Autonomous 
States. Whence and where it was that the Rasena, 
or Raseni, learned the profound maxims of state- 
Craft which enabled them to devise so admirable a 
system of government for the vast possessions which 
had fallen into their hands can never be deter- 
mined. There was no precedent to guide them. 
It was not only a daring conception, it was an 
inspiration. Not to be regarded as an audacious 
venture of political haphazard, but as a laboriously 
elaborated and far-seeing design, and one justified by 
its immediate and amazing success. 

All writers who have concerned themselves with 
the Etruscans at all have declared that it was to 
Agriculture ^nd to Commerce that the Etruscans 
lent all their energies and whence they derived their 
extraordinary wealth. Agriculture, all the avoca- 
tions of husbandry and pasturage, were dedicated to, 
and placed under the protection of the gods and super- 
vised by a powerful hierarchy. Their national hero 



42 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Tagetes, their Solon — the great civil and religious 
legislator — was himself the protector of Agriculture. 
His origin was miraculous, for he had sprung out of 
the furrow at Tarquinia as a ploughman was follow- 
ing his plough. I His books upon Agriculture and 
Religion ; his " Disciplina," formed the standard 
Code of the Etruscans. 

Religious rites, similar to those of the Latins, in 
honour of Pales and Lupercal regulated and cele- 
brated the harvest -season, which was a feast of 
bonfires throughout the country. To show the 
supreme importance of Agriculture amongst the 
Etruscans, it will suffice to mention that not ,everi 
the exigencies of military service were allowed to 
interfere with the cultivation of the soil. The Army 
was annually disbanded with that object. And in 
connection with their agricultural enterprise the ex- 
tensive works of drainage which they imdertook are 
especially characteristic of the skill and prescience 
possessed by this precocious Race. It was so in 
the very early days of their civilisation in the terri- 
tories adjacent to the Adriatic, and in the plains 
watered and overflowed by the great Rivers of the 
Po and the Adige, where they found themselves in a 
land of marshes and lagoons. iWhencesoever the 
bulk of the immigrating hordes may have come or 
where they may have learned the arts of engineering 
as applied to drainage, — whether in the lacustrine 
regions of Egypt, or upon the coasts of Asia Minor, 
they at once engaged in vast works of embankments 
and of sanitary drainage. For the Etruscans had 
not only the largest ideas with regard to agricul- 
ture, they had, too, very advanced views as to the 
hygienic conditions of existence. To reclaim land 

' The legend is related by Cicero, and by other writers. Ammianus 
Marcellinus refers to the Books on "Aruspicina," by Tagetes. 



HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS 43 

for one purpose and to render their surroundings 
less noxious to health seem always to have been 
among their foremost objects. The great works 
which they undertook in the estuaries of the Po 
are known to us as the " Fosse Filistine," a name 
which the supporters of the Phoenician origin of 
the Etruscans have naturally hailed as another proof. 
It certainly is surprising, whatever may be the de- 
rivation of the word, to find the familiar name of 
" Philistine " connected with works of drainage in 
the Valley of the Po.i As the Etruscans advanced 
to occupy the Western portions of their Empire, 
these considerations were always present to them. 
They undertook and carried out large works of 
drainage, ^especially in the regions flooded by the 
Tiber, the Arno, and the Chiana, in the plains around 
Chiusi and Arezzo.^ 

The modern military system which demands large 
standing armies is often made the subject of reproach 
inasmuch as it withdraws from profitable or bene- 
ficial occupations so many millions of men. The 
Etruscan mode of reconciling civil and military fexi- 
gencies not only is one more proof of the practical 
good sense of that people, but attests the remark- 
ably peaceful condition of the country subject to 
their rule. 

It is very probable that after the total subjection 
of the country, the Etruscans were very rarely en- 
gaged in active warfare. Their admirable mode of 
mapping out the country into twelve Federal States 
and of fortifying their Cities with those massive walls, 

^ "Philistis" was the name of one of the Queens of Syracuse. If 
Queen be not considered too pronounced a title for the wife of one 
of the "Tyrants of Sicily." A tradition connects the name of 
Philistis with these Fosse Filistine. 

= Many of the reflections here and on the former page have been 
drawn from Micali's "U Italia Avanti II Dominia dei Romani." 



U IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

the remains of which still fevoke our: admiration,— 
afforded them such perfect security that they might 
even dispense with standing armies. I am speaking 
of the Etruscans when they were in the plenitude 
of their power, — and at a time when no Power had 
yet arisen in Italy to challenge their supremacy. To 
what extent the Pelasgians were accustomed to pro- 
tect their Cities, and how far in those respects the 
Etruscans may be considered to have learned from 
them, the authorities upon the subject are not in 
accord. Yet they are unanimous in distinguishing 
two styles of architecture in Italy. They give the 
walls of polygonous masses to the Pelasgians, — those 
of the horizontal to the Etruscans.' I refer here only 
to the latter. That they were intended to be positions 
of the greatest possible strength is not only evinced 
by their formidable style of architecture, but by their 
situation. Always erected upon hills,2 and very often 
enclosing two opposite eminences, — one of which was 
for greater security regarded as the " Arx " or 
Fortress proper. This imiformity in architecture and 
position can only be ascribed to those sagacious tra- 
ditions of the Etruscans, which sent them; to the 
Sacred Books themselves for the authorised method 
of erecting their Cities. In whatsoever manner they 
discerned for themselves or learned from others the 
art of such construction, it is easy to perceive that 
when once they had surrounded their Cities with 
such impregnable defences they were practically 
unassailable. 

' It cannot be pronounced with certainty that the Etruscans 
never permitted themselves to build in the pol5'gonal style. The 
nature of the stone, accordingly as it had a vertical or horizontal 
cleavage, might sometimes have decided what form the blocks were 
to take. 

' The exception to this custom of erecting Cities upon eminences 
is Vulci, which stands upon a plain at a considerable distance from 
anyheights. 



HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS 45 

It is just at the time when the Etruscan power 
was at its apex, i.e., before the Foundation of Rome, 
that we know least of the Etruscans. 

But certain historians, — unable, of coursfe, to en- 
lighten us as to those primitive times, have been 
able to define for us the limits of the country in more 
recent times and to name the Capital Cities of the 
Twelve Confederated States. 

Central Etruria, — '(to which we confine our atten- 
tion) stretched from Capua to the River Magra. The 
latter river — near Spezia, — defined the North-West 
border of Etruria. Some writers have stretched 
Etruria as far South as Nola, Pompeii, Sorrento, and 
even to Poestum, but there appears little foundation 
for these statements. 

There is no doubt, however, that much of Cam- 
pania was under the influence of Etruria, for Capua 
was certainly an Etruscan possession at an fearly 
period. But of Capua we hear little or nothing until 
its conquest by the Samnites 420 B.C. 

Of the Twelve Capital Cities of Central Etruria, we 
can speak confidently, for, — feven had they not been 
noted by several ancient authorities, — remains of them 
all, m:ore or less impferfect, are still in existence. 

The list comprises Volterra, Arezzo, Vetulonia, Cor- 
tona, Chiusi, 'Perugia, Rusellse, Volsinii (Orvieto), 
Tarquinii, Falerii, Csere, and Veii. 

Cosa I and Vulci have sometimes been mentioned 
as among the Twelve, yet the list above seems now 
generally accepted. It is quite possible, neverthe- 
less, that as circumstances changed, one City may 
have been in greater prominence than another. Many 

* Cosa seems to have been a Colony of the Vulcientes, and 
therefore would not have been entitled to the privilege. And a 
similar objection would disqualify Populonia, which was a Volterra 
port. 



46 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

of these Cities were in possession of Colonies and 
Ports. Every Capital-City — according to the Tuscan 
Doctrines, — was placed under the patronage of a pro- 
tecting Deity, who would have been one of the Twelve 
Dii Consentes of the Etruscans. 

Many other names of important Etruscan Cities 
have been recorded, such as Fiesole, Saturnia, Capena, 
Fescennia, Orte, Sutri, Toscana or Toscania, yet as 
we know so little of most of them, we may confine 
our attention to the Twelve Capital Cities. And 
with reference to some of these it may be observed 
that many classical writers, including Dionysius and 
Strabo, allude to them as having been founded by 
Pelasgi or Greeks, and even by Lydian settlers. 
Thus, it is not impossible that the Etruscans may 
have found friends or even kinsmen ready to extend 
the hand of friendship in some of them. 

Although the Etruscans were so advanced that 
they divided their Solar year into twelve months 
(even as they had twelve primary Deities) they had 
a curiously infantine mode of recording the course 
of Time. A huge nail was driven into the walls of 
each temple to mark the completion of a year. 

In the Etruscan system of government the civil 
and religious authority were so blended that either 
may be said to have existed by favour of the other. 
Primarily nothing could be carried out without the 
assistance or the jurisdiction of the priests, and the 
sacerdotal and civil powers were in the hands of the 
patrician families. The Government, in point of fact, 
was an oligarchy, and the oligarchs in each of the 
twelve States elected their Lucumo or Prince, 
annually. These twelve Lucumones elected from one 
of their own number the King (the word was un- 
known) or Chief of the whole Confederation. (Lars 
Porsena, e.g., was a' Chief and so wielded the whole 



HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS 47 

Etruscan power.) Each of the Xwelve Cities there- 
upon sent the elected Chief a lictor as a visible sign 
and acknowledgment of his Office. The twelve Lucu- 
mones further elected a high-priest and a supreme 
Aruspex. 

There seerns to have been a Senate composed 
of the patrician -families, — whose meeting-place was 
in one of the Temples, except upon any special occa- 
sion when they assembled in the Temple of Voltumna 
(Concord). We may suppose that such occasions 
were for the adjustment of differences that may have 
arisen between any of the States ; for the declaration 
of a War, — or even for the arrangement of conditions 
of peace. But of what numbers this Senate was com- 
posed, or what may have been their powers, we know 
nothing. To settle the numbers required for military 
service was vested in the Patrician families, yet that 
function it is said was exercised in " another place " 
in an assembly of a more popular; natute. As we 
hear nothing of the nature of Consuls, or Tribunes, or 
other Officers in the political system, we may con- 
clude that therie was little check of any kind upon 
thei power of thje Senate. Popular gatherings |(of 
whatever naturle they may have been) were held in 
the Fora of the Cities, whilst, as has been remarked, 
the Senate miet in one of the Temples. Yet it was 
upon Religion, and upon very strict religious obser- 
vances that the whole structure of the social and 
political constitution of the Etruscans reposed. The 
Priests were Omnipotent. Every act of public or 
private life depended upon their divinations and 
auguries. Whether a war was to be waged or a 
peace proclaimied rested with them. It was for them 
to consecrate the walls of a City — to bless the union 
of families in marriage-rites, and t0 settle the boun- 
daries of Estates. For the rights of property were 



48 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

most sacred, and under, the protection of the Deus 
Terminus, most jealously regarded. The Science of 
Augury, whether based upon prognostications from, 
the flight of birds, or deduced from, the inspection of 
the entrails of victims, decided the most important 
questions. It was for the Augurs also, to pronounce 
upon the import of natural phenomena. Thunder 
and lightning, and especially Eclipses, strike terror 
into the souls of the ignorant and superstitious. It 
may be presumed that the Augurs did not fail to profit 
by those fears. Their pronouncements on such phe- 
nomena werfe considered so precious that they were 
inscribed in volumes made of linen-flax and committed 
to the care of the Sacerdotal Colleges, — of which, per- 
haps, the chief was established at Fiesole. Yet these 
Augurs and Aruspices often spoke with the authority 
of Tagetes himself, — for he is said to have drawn up 
a thunder -calendar for every day in the year. It 
seems, too, that it was not only the vulgar who were 
influenced by the pronouncements of these wise men, 
for they are referred to in terms of respect by 
Cicero,! Plutarch, and other writers. Plutarch says,2 
" The Tuscan Sages who possessed a wisdom, greater 
than that of ordinary men." 

So enduring a science, indeed, was that of the 
Etruscan Haruspices, that it is still heard of as late 
as six centuries after the Christian Era. Julian the 
Apostate 3 even is reported as having consulted these 
oracular authorities. And for aught one knows the 
superstition may yet be lurking in some Tuscan fast- 

^ Cicero alludes to the Umbrians as among the prophets, i.e., 
Soothsayers, "De Divinatione." 

' Plutarch's " Sylla." 

3 It seems that it was the " Libri Tarquitii " from which Julian 
the Apostate sought imformation. These Libri Tarquitii were 
a kind of second edition of the Disciplina, fuller, ampler, and 
more voluminous. They were either kept at or compiled at Veii. 



HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS 49 

ness of to-day, for nothing dies so hard as supfer- 
stition, especially in Italy. 

By the extension of their conquests to the shores 
of the Tyrrhenian Sea, the maritime supremacy of the 
Etruscans became of teven greater importance to them 
than their predominance on land. They had to ac- 
quire a Navy as m,uch for the development of their 
commerce as for the protection of their coasts . Early 
in their new career undisguised piracy i seems to 
have been the means by which they sought and ac- 
quired their commercial predominance in Italy. Even 
in the Ionian and ^gean Seas they had gained the 
reputation of being ferocious Corsairs. And in such 
very primitive times, too, that a Greek legend confers 
upon them the questionable fame of having attacked 
vessels which Were conveying Bacchus and his Crew, 
and thereupon summarily transformed into dolphins. 
Another Greek legend relates that it was some of 
these Tyrrhenian pirates who surprised and killed 
the Argonauts upon their way to Colchis. iWhether 
the Etruscans can be identified under the name of 
Tyrrheni in such remote ages is doubtful, the name 
Tyrrhenian has been so loosely applied. Stories more 
reliable and relating to periods less mythical, — of the 
prowess of Tyrrhenian pirates, — have been recorded 
by recognised historians. 

' We find them: when their commercial enterprises 
were regulated by sounder principles than those of 
piracy, as rivals of the Carthaginians, making journeys 
to Gibraltar, and in other waters as turning up upon 
the coasts of Phoenicia, Asia Minor, and even off 
Egypt. 

' It should be observed that the Italian Pelasgi were also termed 
Tyrrheni and even " Tursha," and the latter name is said to occur 
in a hieroglyphic at Karnak. Diodoms Siculus also mentions the 
fame of the Etruscans as sailors. 

4 



50 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

We hear of their ships upon the shores of Asia 
Minor in the year 496 B.C., at about the time that 
Miletus was falling into the grasp of Persia. It is 
not improbable also that at the Battle of Salamis, — 
a few years later, the services of mariners so re- 
nowned may have been requisitioned by one or other 
of the contending forces. 

We further hear of the Etruscans and .Cartha- 
ginians in alliance against the Phocseans, — overcom- 
ing them with a fleet of 120 ships, and forcing them 
to abandon the Island of Corsica. The sequel of this 
naval engagement will be related in a later chapter, 
— that on Caere. 

This alliance was further cemented by a military 
league as well as by a commercial treaty. A certain 
degree of prestige was acquired by the Etruscans 
by means of this alliance. But it was neither sub- 
stantial nor durable ; for a very few years after- 
wards, the Etruscans are found off Cum^ struggling 
against Syracusans, Carthaginians, and Italic Greeks 
under Hiero of Syracuse. The coup de grace, in 
fact, to her maritime power was dealt by these com- 
bined forces in the year 453 B.C. As a naval detail 
it may be mentioned that the Etruscans have been 
credited with the invention of the Ram or the Spur, 
with what truth, I know not, — nor what use they may 
have made of it. 

From this time we hear no more of naval combats, 
and though doubtless Etruria still held her own upon 
her own coasts, henceforward her battles were to be 
upon land. And long and fierce her wars were des- 
tined to be. 

As was remarked previously, there are no records 
of the vicissitudes of Etruscan power during the 
first centuries of their supremacy in Italy. I do not 
think that any historical fact is to be discerned before 



HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS 51 

the reign of Tarquinius Priscus when four Etruscan 
cities, Arezzo, Volterra, Ruselte, and Vetulonia are 
found leagued against that King and with but very 
ill success. It is not, indeed, before the epoch of the 
famed Lars Porsena that we can find any discernible 
historical facts. His war against Rome was about 
the year 520 B.C. Evien if he did occupy Rome for 
a brief period, as many have supposed, the advantage 
he gained was not very durable. For his son Aruns 
was not only beaten but killed at Ariccia by the 
united Romans and Cumasans fourteen years later. 

Yet, the first great disasters inflicted upon the 
Etruscans were by the Gaulish arms at Belloveso 
upon the Ticino River, 590 B.C., which torte from; 
them' their possessions in the Valley of the Po, to- 
gether with their great City of Felsina "(Bologna). 
It was in consequencfe of the rout which then ensued 
that fugitive Etruscans are supposied to have taken 
refuge in the Rhaetian Alps. And thence the traces 
of the Etruscan language and Etruscan art in Rhsetia, 
a subject touched upon in an earlier Chapter. 

A severie blow to Etruscan prestige that defeat at 
Belloveso assuredly was, yet it served to remind 
the Etruscans that they ought to concentrate their 
forces in Central Etruria, where her real strength 
lay. Her forces had been too scattered, and her 
extremely extended boundaries were undefensible. 
She nevier would have made head against the Romans 
as she was enabled to under Lars Porsena, had she 
had to defend her Northern territories at the same 
moment. 

Her golden period was certainly that of Lars 
Porsena. It was not vouchsafed to every State 
to administer a rebuff to Rome, but when the brave 
days of Lars Porsena of Clusium were over — and it 
is to be feared they were not very protracted — the 



52 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

scene shifts to Veil, yeii is declared to have fought 
against Rome during fifteen campaigns, and finally 
to have been captured after a siege of ten years. 
Surely such Homeric warfare demanded a chronicler 
of some kind, — if not a poet. Did no name leap to 
the front during those protracted struggles? Veil, 
from her propinquity to Rome, had been a more 
incessant worry to that rising Power than had been 
Chiusi herself. Many of the differences betv/een 
Veil and Rome had arisen upon the subject of An- 
temnae, so near to both Cities, and to which Veii would 
not abandon her claim. Three of the fifteen cam- 
paigns to which reference has been made above had 
been waged by Romulus . Yet all the efforts of Rome 
had been powerless to lower her crest or to weaken 
her power. She was the most indomitable adversary 
that Rome had yet encountered, and in the 5th Cen- 
tury B.C. she was certainly the most powerful of 
all the Etruscan Cities . 

Every reader of Roman history knows the story of 
the defeats of the Fabii before Veii ; of the ten years* 
siege and of the final triumph of Camillus in the 
year 393 B.C. And with the Fall of Veii commenced 
the decline of the Etruscan power in the strongholds 
of the Empire. Yet the decline was very gradual 
and the end was still far off. Another hundred years 
was to elapse before the crushing defeats of Tar- 
quinia and her allies, especially at the Battles of 
the Vadimonian Lake, 470 and 453 A.U.C., when her 
subjection was virtually completed. i Nevertheless, 
the Romans appear still to have left considerable 
autonomy to the Etruscan Cities after their subjection, 
so much so that they were able even as late as the 
times of Sylla to enter into an alliance with the 

' At one of these Battles it is said that the last Lucumo of Chiusi, 
Vulturnus was killed. 



HISTORY OF THE ETRUSCANS 53 

Sairoiites against Rome. Much had happened, indeed, 
since these new allies had turned the Etruscans out 
of Capua. For, as has been n^entioned in another 
page, Sylla was called upon centuries later than 
the; Battles of the Vadimonian Lake, to stifle what 
independence still lingered in the famous old 
Etruscan strongholds. 

It is evident, therefore, that Rom,e did not lower 
the proud heads of their rivals much too soon. Had 
they deferred, for example, the conquest of Etruria 
by another century, it might have gone very hard 
with theim when Hannibal swept down upon Italy 
from the Alps. It stirs the imagination to surmise 
even what might have happened had the Etruscans 
been free to add their forces to those of the great 
Carthaginian General. As things turned out, how- 
ever, it is said that the Etruscans had to furnish 
a contingent to fight against the Carthaginians at 
Cannas. One can hear some of the tough old 
Etruscan soldier,s lamenting after the defeat that 
they had not fought upon the victorious side ! 

I trust that the reader niay have gathered from 
the brief remarks made above, the impressions which 
the writer has sought to convey : — 

That the Etruscans touched the summit of their 
fame under the hegemony of Lars Porsena pf 
Clusium. That distinguished leader certainly curbed 
the growing power of Rome, and so was able to 
delay by many years the inevitable destiny of his 
country. And very soon after his disappearance it 
became evident that the Federal Union of the 
Etruscan League, however great its strength had 
formerly been, was growing weak at the very moment 
when union was most imperative. 

And with regard to the origin of the Etruscan 
Race, the author may briefly recapitulate the con- 



54 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

elusions at which he has arrived : — That it was formed 
by successive immigrations of Races of Asian and 
Thessalian stock following each other and estab- 
lishing themselves upon the Adriatic Littoral. That 
these migrations really formed one or more of those 
great racial movements which were typical of the 
general unrest which characterised the primitive world 
— to be classed with Pelasgic wanderings, Dorian 
Immigrations, Returns of the Heraclidas, and so forth. 
That in some parts of the North-East of Italy there 
was a people of the Oscan stock named " Rasena," 
sufficiently strong, powerful, and astute to avail them- 
selves of this foreign agglomeration in that part of 
the country, sufficiently powerful and organised to 
shape and to wield and to mould these races into one 
People for their own purposes, which was first that 
of ousting the Pelasgi and then of subduing the 
Umbri, and it is very probable that these two Races 
were nearly amalgamated at this time — both Races 
so ancient that it would be difficult to assign to either 
the palm for antiquity. Nor would the Etruscans 
have found either Race inferior in the arts of Civilisa- 
tion to themselves ; for the Pelasgians in the land 
of their origin — or lands rather (for they had wan- 
dered everywhere) — had established their fame as 
great builders, a fame attested by their Cities of 
Tiryns, and Mycenae, and Argos, and that they had 
brought letters into Italy many ancient writers have 
affirmed. And as regards the Umbri, they have been 
regarded as the first of Italian Races to have lived 
in fortified cities. And if Tuder or Todi can be 
regarded as built by the Umbrians, — it may fairly be 
said that no Race has surpassed thern in the construc- 
tion of Walls. 



CHAPTER III 

ETRUSCAN RELIGION 

Among all the ancient peoples of Italy the Etruscans 
had the reputation of being pre-eminently religious. 
The supremacy of the Priesthood, the predominance 
of their influence throughout the political and social 
spheres, — (the natural result of the Lucumones being 
also priests, and themselves electing the high-priest) 
— together with a very comprehensive and elaborate 
ritual, would fully justify the term " Religio " as 
understood by an ancient people. Yet, their reputa- 
tion for being eminently distinguished for religion, 
it may be remarked, seems curiously undeserved as 
regards the manifestations thereof in their Art. I 
know of no ancient people who have expressed so 
little of their beliefs in their art -productions. Art 
has elsewhere always arisen out of religious beliefs. 
tWith the Etruscans it has not been so. Even in their 
sarcophagi and cinerary urns, where we should 
naturally have expected to find some expression of 
the Faith that was in them, we meet, with rare ex- 
ceptions, reliefs representative only of Greek stories, 
legends, and myths, all subjects quite foreign to 
Etruscan religious beliefs. Whether the priests were 
averse to the treatment of national beliefs in sculp- 
ture, or whether all these works were executed at 

55 



56 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

a very late period wheli Greek art had established 
an ascendancy in the country, it is very difficult to 
pronounce. It seems to be one more of those in- 
soluble riddles which are so prevalent in the history, 
of the Etruscan Race. 

The Etruscan Priests, as in other countries where 
the representatives of the sacerdotal power have been 
held in excessive veneration, elaborated their religious 
system, into one of great mysteries, to be manifested 
only to the initiated, and to be interpreted only by 
themselves. "Later," (Signor A. Guerri, in his 
brochure upon Fiesole, writes), " under the influence 
of the Greeks and the Latins, they adapted their 
myths, the costumes and the rites of their divinities, 
to those to which their own gods seemed to bear a 
resemblance. Nor should we be surprised to meet 
such modifications in pagan religions, when we re- 
member that such systems of religion were not main- 
tained by undeviating dogmas. The Priests often 
followed the inclinations of the people, which in 
Etruria, in the 3rd Century of Rome, had lalready 
begun to gravitate towards Greek theosophy, had, 
in the 5th Century B.C., transformed the Religion by 
the combined influence of the Greeks and Latins 
with whom the Etruscans had come in contact. Yet, 
in the new system as in the more ancient, the Priests 
were accustomed to offer sacrifices of animals and 
tributes of grain to the gods accompanying such 
rites with music and song, with dancing and banquets. 
In honour of their gods, they also gave theatrical 
and gymnastic exhibitions. Their musical instru- 
ments were the long trumpets, termed * tubi 
Tyrrheni ' ; shorter trum'pets (the lituus) ; flutes of 
horn, metal, or wood ; lyres, and two-stringed 
guitars." 

The Etruscans seem to have believed in one 



ETRUSCAN RELIGION 57 

supreme Deity, but I do not think that if this were 
the esoteric belief, it was shared by the People jm 
general. Most religions claim, a supreme Deity, but 
the pious belief has not been sufficiently warm to 
exclude a multitude of inferior deities . The Etruscan 
Creed in that respect was as elastic as most of the 
other ancient religions. Their prominent Deities 
were the twelve " Dii Consentes," six masculine, six 
feminine, each of whom presided over one of the 
months of the year, and over one of the Confederated 
States. Their principal Deity in primitive times was 
Janus, a god whose worship was general throughout 
Italy. His name seems to have been changed into 
that of Jove, probably by Greek influence, and Janus 
took up another position in the Pantheon. iWe hear 
of a " Veiove," which by an easy transposition would 
become ** Jove." Vertumnus seems to have been 
peculiarly a god of the Etruscans to whom the 
Romans certainly were indebted for his introduction 
into Rome. Norcia or Nortia, (the Goddess oi 
Fortune) was another very much reverenced Deity, 
whose special cult was to be found in Volsinium pr 
Volsinii. Voltumna, the Goddess of Concord, in 
whose Temple the Li^cumoines of the twelve States 
were accustomed to assemble, was, so far as the name 
goes, peculiar to the Etruscains . The Phallic symbol, 
evidently an importation from the East, was with the 
Etruscans as elsewhere, the peculiar sign for fertility 
and productiveness. The three great Deities of the 
Etruscans, as with the Greeks and the Romans, were 
the Trinity ; Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. Though 
the Etruscan names for Jupiter and Juno were very 
different : Tinia was Jupiter, Thalna was Juno ; 
Menerva, or Menefra: was nearly the same as the 
Latin. Some say that Juno bore the name of Cupra, 
but I think it very probable that Venus was Cupra. 



58 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

If not, unless she be Turans, or Turan, a, name found 
sometimes upon the bronze mirrors, curiously enough 
Venus will not be found in Etruscan mythology. 
Bearing in mind that Cyprus was the reputed birth- 
place of, and the Island peculiarly sacred to, Venus, 
I hazard this conjecture to fill up a very extraordinary 
hiatus in the Pantheon of the Etruscans. 

If you glance over a list of the Etruscan Deities, 
whose names have been deciphered from inscriptions, 
or; learned from' other sources, you will be struck 
by their dissimilarity to Greek or Roman Gods, 
except in instances such as Aplu, Ercle, Charun 
(Apollo, Hercules, Charon.) The similarity of 
Minerva or Menefra, and Minerva has been noted. 
Vertumnus, the Etruscan God of Commerce, and 
possibly of the Seasons, passed to Rome in the latter 
signification. Yet the name sounds as though some 
corresponding word had been Latinised. There were 
a host of inferior Deities, Lares, Angels and Demons, 
Gorgons, Genii, Chimasras and fabulous Creatures 
more or less grotesque. Guerri says, " Amongst these 
beneficent or malevolent genii, half-human half- 
divine, the Etruscans imagined that there was always 
proceeding a constant struggle, to benefit or to injure 
the individual during life, and to conduct him to 
places of joy or torment after death." These ideas 
are continually reproduced in the paintings on the 
walls of the tombs and upon the sepulchral urns. 
That the Etruscans should have believed in rewards 
for the just and punishment for the wicked after 
death, certainly proves them as greatly in advance of 
both Romans and Greeks. In that respect they 
approached the Egyptians, whose grossly materialistic 
views, however, they were very far from sharing. 
Yet such belief was shared by many Eastern peoples, 
and that it was one held by many of the Greek 
philosophers is certain. 



ETRUSCAN RELIGION 59 

Aiid in this dualistic principle of a perpetual strife 
between good and evil, the Etruscans seem especially, 
to approximate to the Persian creed of Zoroastes in 
which " Ormuzd " and " Ahriman " represent the an- 
tagonistic principles. It seems most improbable that 
this article of faith should have been: held by any 
one of the Oscan Peoples, and we may therefore 
conclude that it was imported by some of the Invaders 
from the East. 

The most remarkable belief held by the Etruscans 
was one relating to the Creation and duration of the 
world. The Etruscan Sages taught that God had 
created the world in six thousand years, — the last 
millennium of which He had employed in the Creation 
of Man. That the world would endure for a, like 
period, when all things would return to Chaos. 

How very remarkable is the analogy presented be- 
tween our modern interpretation of the Mosaic Six 
Days, and that dictum of the Etruscan iWise Men. 

The Etruscans further limited the duration of their 
own Empire to a thousand years. A most extra- 
ordinary prophecy. If our Chronology is accurate, 
the foundation of their Empire and the loss of their 
Independence would almost exactly comprise one 
thousand years. 

It is curious to note the great importance attached 
by the Etruscans to the number Twelve. The World 
from its creation; to the completion of its course was 
to be twelve thousajid years. They had twelve Dii 
Consentes. They had also twelve Cities in Mid 
Etruria, and twelve Cities or Colonies in the regions 
of the Po. Evejl their coins were of a duodecimal 
standard. 

As has been mentioned, they believed in the future 
life. They even held, — or the Priests held, — that as 
sooil 3.S the souls left their bodies they became 



60 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Majies and Lemures. That they could return to visit 
their relatives (we must trust not as " Lemures," — for 
in such dread shapes, their appearances would cer- 
tainly not have proved consolatory to the survivors), 
and that at certain solemn seasons, even their bodies 
could issue from their sepulchres — this, as it is said, 
being the reason of periodically commemorative 
ceremonies . 

Allusion has been made above to the uncouth 
names of the Etruscan Deities, such as Tinia (or 
Tin), Thalna, Phuphlans (Bacchus), Sethlans 
(Vulcan), Thurms (Hermes) and others. 

Mantus is another of the Etruscan Deities whose 
name is not to be traced to any Greek or Roman 
source. He seems to have been the chief of the 
lords of hell, and to have answered to Pluto. He is 
figured in some of the paintings in tombs, in company 
with Proserpine, who is there styled Persephone, whilst 
Mantus is called Aide, which is very near the Greek 
Hades. Mantus is said to have given his name .to 
Mantua, once an Etruscan possession. 

Such names occur in no other known theogony, 
and are not similar to, or suggestive of, those of 
any other nation. Should they not then be fairly 
attributed to one of the Oscan nations, — to the Umbri, 
or to the Raseni or Rasena themselves? 

It is singular, the Etruscans being so famous for 
Agriculture, that Ceres or an equivalent is not heard 
of. That omission, if the Etruscans had come from 
any part of Greece, would have been strange ; and 
the same remark may be made of the absence of an 
Aphrodite or Venus. For Turans, or Turan, if she 
be her representative, as appears possible from the 
evidence of a few bronze mirrors, is certainly not 
suggestive of the Goddess of Beauty in any Tongue 
with which we are acquainted. These, with other 



ETRUSCAN RELIGION 61 

cojisi derations drawn from other sources, very much 
tend to a belief that the Etruscan religion was an 
amalgam — Eastern beliefs generally, grafted upon 
Oscan superstitions with an Oscan nomenclature. 

In no Celtic, Scandinavian or Gaulish Creed pf 
which we have any cognisance will anything re- 
sembling the Etruscan Creed be found. The final 
tribunal, the awards of happiness or of punishment 
are ideas quite foreign to those found in Northern 
or North-Western Creeds. Ideas so advanced that 
we marvel to find them allied with the hocus pocus 
of fortune-tellers, magicians and soothsayers, almost 
as barbarous as those in African superstitions. And 
it was, moreover, the power of thundering which 
chiefly marked the potent Deity in the Etruscan 
Creed. Nine gods possessed that power. (We 
remember that Macaulay's " Lars Porsena, by the 
nine gods he swore.") Notwithstanding, therefore, 
the two or three bright gleams from the East that 
are to be perceived in the Etruscan Creed — the super- 
stitious and the materialistic seem to me to prevail. 
Nor can I perceive in their religious Art much of 
the symbolical with which the Etruscans have been 
sometimes credited. The after-life, the joys of 
Paradise, as expressed in their artistic representa- 
tions, appear to be but a continuation of a very prosaic 
if luxurious eixstence upon earth. I can find therein 
little, if any, spiritual suggestion. If some celestial 
joy unknown to earth were ever dimly conceived by 
any of their artists, it has been so dimly suggested 
as to leave us under the impression that the Etruscans 
were so in love with this present world that .they 
looked forward only to a renewal in another sphere 
of their earthly experiences. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE ARTS OF THE ETRUSCANS 

Much has been said in other parts of this Volume 
concerning Etruscan Art in its details, — of the 
artistic sepulchres and of the treasures found in those 
tombs and in other places in Etruria. 

Here I would propose to enter briefly upon the 
subject ,of the Etruscans as Artists ; how far they 
were indebted to the influence of foreign Art, and 
whether they were earlier in the field than the 
Greeks. And also, whether the Etruscans, upon 
coming into Italy, found any germs of the artistic - 
faculty already prevalent in the country. 

There was a tendency (of remote years now) — 
when the great " trouvailles " in Etruria, of Vases 
especially, were first made — to attribute them all 
to Etruscan Artists. Etruscan Vases, as they were 
called, have scarcely lost that denomination now. 
But when similar discoveries of similar Vases were 
made in Greece, Sicily, in the Islands of the ^gean 
Sea and elsewhere, all the Vases exhumed in Etruria 
were declared to be of Greek manufacture and 
consequently importations. The painted tombs of 
Tarquinia, Veii, Vulci, Chiusi, and of other places 
were also assigned to Greek Artists. 

In fine, almost every art in which the Etruscans 



THE ARTS OF THE ETRUSCANS 63 

had been supposed to be proficient was taken away 
from them. Even the Bronzes, the best bronzes at 
least, were given to Greek Artists. This tendency to 
refuse the name of Artist to any Etruscan is, if 
anything, still more marked at the present moment. 

Of course it has not been denied that at the 
remote epoch of the rise of the Etruscan Power in 
Italy, Greek Art was unknown. Therefore it is urged, 
neither was there any Art in Italy, at all events 
before the epoch of Demaratus. Much has been 
made of Demaratus and of his arrival in Italy, so 
it i^s lalleged, with his Eucheir and Eugraphos, the 
Corinthian potters, (yet their names are clearly 
eponymes,) and who proceeded to instruct the 
Etruscans in the art of making figured-vases. 

Demaratus, whose first voyage from Corinth to 
Etruria is dated about the year 658 B.C., has been 
represented by certain writers as a sort of universal 
provider. Not only did he establish a colony of 
artistic potters in the land, but he introduced letters 
into Central Italy. 

Demaratus, being one of the historical figures to 
be clearly discerned through the mists of Etruscan 
history, merits, then, a casual allusion. Although 
of the Aristocratic family of the Bacchiades of 
Corinth, Demaratus was forced to devote himself 
to Commerce, having been expelled by Cypselus, who 
had established a Tyranny in that City. Demara- 
tus betook himself to Tarquinia, a famous Etruscan 
city, (founded, it is said, by Tarchun in the 12th 
Century B.C.,) and carried with him a colony of 
potters — for the names of Eucheir and Eugrammos 
(or Eugraphos) are clearly typical. He proceeded 
to establish Potteries in various parts of Etruria. 
From his commercial ventures, he acquired great 
wealth. He renounced his own country (whence he 



64 IN ANCIENT BTRURIA 

had been expelled) and settled at Tarquinia, and so 
pleased was he with his success in trading with 
Italy that he thenceforward devoted his life to ex- 
changing the commodities of Etruria with Corinthian 
goods ; — ^and this notwithstanding his expulsion from 
Corinth. Thus we are asked to suppose, in the first 
place, that the Etruscans, always voiceless, it seems, 
were pining for an Alphabet ; and, secondly, that 
Demaratus, instead of furnishing them with the 
already classic letters of his own Doric or ^olic 
Alphabet, invented the archaic and sufficiently un- 
intelligible tongue which we know as Etruscan. And 
this assertion has been made in the teeth of the fact 
that the Pelasgi had already, (and centuries before,) 
introduced letters into Italy. So it is asserted by 
Pliny, Solinus, and others. As to Demaratus, he 
became so wealthy from his repeated voyages betwixt 
Italy and Corinth, and so much in love with the 
country in which he had chiefly acquired his riches, 
that, retiring from business, he settled down at 
Tarquinia, and espoused a lady of that City. His 
eldest son, Lucumo, (a quite impossible name, being 
that of an Office,) succeeded to his father's wealth ; 
and also married an Etruscan lady named Tanaquil. 
His pretensions perhaps, or his wealth, provoking 
the jealousy of his adopted fellow-citizens, he one 
day stepped into a " carpentum " — (the national two- 
wheeled cab) — with his wife, and driving off to Rome, 
settled there and became, under the name of Tar- 
quinius Priscus, the fifth King of that rising provincial 
City. 

To conclude this note about Demaratus, it may 
be observed that his claim to have endowed Etruria 
with a language is absolutely untenable. Then we 
come to the supposition that because Demaratus had 
brought into the country Corinthian potters, that the 



THE ARTS OF THE ETRUSCANS 65 

Etruscans could not have made their pottery them- 
selves. Looking idly on at Eucheir and Eugraphos 
for ever making pots and vases, they felt no induce- 
ment to do likewise ! Yet, as these Corinthians had 
been brought into the country for the express purpose 
of teaching them the art, why should the Etruscans 
have been so averse to learn their lessons? 

I do not doubt that many of the rude specimens 
of figured vases which have been found in Etruria, — 
inferior both in design and material are to be attri- 
buted to Etruscan Artists. Many of them, although 
Greek in (Subject, were manifestly made by native 
artists in the infancy of art, and in that respect do not 
differ from the first rude attempts of artists in other 
countries. Yet it seems somewhat illogical to assert, 
as many writers have done, that the Etruscans made 
no progress in the Art, and that their artistic merits 
are to be estimated by their infantine efforts alone. 
The number of figured vases exhumed in Italy has 
been so vast that it seems highly improbable that 
they could all have been importations from Greece 
or her Colonies. And further, in many parts of 
Etruria, at Vulci especially, the clay has been found 
to be of such high quality as to offer special 
encouragement to the production of ceramic wares. 

I see no reason to doubt, therefore, that the 
extraordinary abundance of vases which have been 
unearthed in Italy are partly importations and partly 
of native manufacture. Nor does it seem probable f 
or in accordance with analogy, that the Etruscans, 
being possessed of such a craving for ceramic ware, 
should not have sought to produce for themselves 
the things which they admired so passionately. It 
is difficult to admit that they were never artists at 
all, but only the most ardent connoisseurs of whom 
the world h^s ever heard. 

5 



66 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

" Passing now to the consideration of their paintings, 
— other than those of their vases, — it cannot be gain- 
said that some of their paintings on the walls of sepul- 
chres, and sometimes upon terra-cotta slabs, are of 
a remarkably archaic character : in some instances 
certainly previous to anything of the kind known in 
Greece. Pliny (I have quoted his authority in the 
Chapter on Caere) refers to; paintings at Caere, at 
Ardea and Lanuvium still extant ill his day, and 
the execution of which he refers to a period two 
centuries before the Foundation of Rome. 

The terra-cotta slabs brought from Caere and now 
in ;the British Museum and in the Gallery of thq 
Louvre, are also of a most archaic period, and might 
well be those spoken of by Pliny. I might refer 
also to the tomb -paintings at Veii, to those of 
Vulci, — the " Mastarna and Cceles Vibenna " espe- 
cially, — and to many of the most archaic tombs 
at Tarquinia, as fully warranting an assumption that 
they owe nothing to Greek influence at all. More- 
over, paintings in tombs in Greece were at no 
epoch at all general. I find but two: instances 
recorded. 

Upon the other hand, they abound in Etruria to 
such an extent that we should, I think, be justified 
in attributing the origin of that branch of art to 
Etruria herself. 

And then again, as regards the ciiierary-ums and 
their development later on into the very fine sarco- 
phagi with recumbent statues. Where in Greece, 
or anywhere else, do we find them? iWe are 
certainly not exceeding the limits of fair inference 
if we assign them to Etruscan Artists. Had they 
been the work of foreign artists we should have ex- 
pected to find, or to hear, of similar instances outside 
Italy. But as we hear nothing of foreign artists 



THE ARTS OF THE ETEUSOANS 67 

having made such works, not of any importations of 
them from Greece or elsewhere, it seems but fair to 
assume that the Etruscans originated that branch 
of art, and in the terra-cotta sarcophagi especially, 
produced works not unworthy of some of the artists 
of the Italian Renaissance. It is chiefly on their 
extraordinary skill in the treatment of bronze that 
the fame of Etruscan artists rests. Ancient and 
modern writers alike have attested to the world- 
wide celebrity of Etruscan bronze and to its diffusion 
in many parts of the world. The Etruscans pre- 
ferred bronze to terra-cotta for their greatest 
works in sculpture and, most fortunately for us, many 
of their most artistic productions, such as the 
" Arringatore," the " Chimera," and the " Minerva," 
are still with us.i 

Speaking of Etruscan sculpture, Pliny says : 
*' Pr^terea elaboratam hanc artem Italiae et maxime 
Etruriae." 

A very much later author, Cassiodorus, says : 
" Has (statuas) primum Thusci in Italian invenisse 
referunt." 

Again, when Tarquinius Priscus was raising upon" 
the Capitol a Temple to Jupiter, (itself an Etruscan 
work,) it was not to Greece that he sent for a 
statue of that Deity, but entrusted the work to an 
Etruscan of Fregelloe (near Rome) named Turianus, 
who also executed a statue of Hercules. Upon the 
same site there was an equestrian statute of Clcelia, « 
(probably of later date). I do not think that there 
is any record of any other equestrian statue executed 
by an Etruscan, although, if we may judge from 
the representations of horses on reliefs and upon 
tomb-walls, it is evident that horses were; very dear 

' To these works may be added, as instances of Etruscan bronze 
sculpture, the famous "Wolf" of the Capitol. 



68 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

to the Etruscans. Yet the most valuable recogni- 
tion by Romans of Etruscan talent came from the 
Emperor Augustus himself. In his famous Library 
upon the Palatine he placed an Etruscan Apollo. 
That is a remarkable fact, as the Romans cannot 
be said to have much appreciated the artistic talents 
of their great rivals. Pausanias, an enthusiastic 
connoisseur, who journeyed all over Greece and has 
left notes about the works of sculpture, from the times 
of Daedalus to those of Praxiteles, never turned 
his glance towards Etruscan Art. Quinctilian, also 
an Authority on Art, has but a solitary remark about 
Etruscan art, and only speaks of the hard, stiff style 
of Etruscan sculpture, and then only parenthetically 
in illustration of one of the primitive Greek 
artists. 

Let us now leave Etruscan bronze -sculpture and 
dwell for 3. few moments upon a minor branch of 
bronze art, and a branch which the Etruscans made 
peculiarly their own' : the beautiful bronze mirrors 
which are so often most artistically engraved or 
incised. Although these mirrors have been found 
in Greece and in other parts of Italy, notably at 
Prasneste, they are so abundant in Etruria that one 
would be justified in crediting the Etruscans with 
having been the original creators of them. 

A remarkable circumstance connected with these 
Etruscan mirrors is, that although generally engraved 
with some subject from Greek history or legend, they 
are invariably inscribed with Etruscan characters. 
Dennis would assign them to three classes. The 
earliest quite plain ; the second class engraved or 
incised ; and the third with ornaments or figures in 
relief. 

The most remarkable instance of one in relief 
was found near Perugia and is now in the City- 



THE ARTS OF THE ETRUSCANS 69 

Museum. It is far too heavy fori a lady to havei 
held in her hands ; probably her slave had to do 
that. It is most likely that it was never grasped 
by either, but was made either as a specimen of 
the talents of the Artist, or as some precious 
offering made for some special occasion. 

I have, in other portions of this book, written so 
much in detail upon the works in bronze exhumed 
in Etruria, (at Vetulonia^ especially,) that I will not 
here enlarge upon the subject. 

I will pass now to another branch of Etruscan 
art very much in favour with the Etruscans — the 
•" scarab^us." It is very possible, — indeed it may 
be assumed as certain, — that the Etruscans derived 
the art from Egypt, yet in many points they differ 
from those made in Egypt, and, moreover, do not 
bear Egyptian characters or devices. 

We may assume that they were manufactured 
in the country. The beetle is generally somewhat 
rudely modelled and roughly shaped, and almost 
always bears a device carved beneath ; a human 
figure, a lion, a' horse, a. griffin, a bird, — these last. 
Crests, it may be, of the Town or City of the artist. 
Generally such device is of great artistic excellence, 
so much so that some writers have supposed that 
the beetle only had been rudely shaped by some 
inartistic Etruscan workman who then had recourse 
tO' a Greek to finish the work. Yet it seems a waste 
of power to employ two artists upon such a little 
thing, that it would have been simpler to have left 
it [all to the Greek. They are in general made of 
cornelian or of amethyst ; never, I think, of steatite 
or of green colour at all as in the Egyptian work. 
Lanzi, e.g., for that reason : — that the Greek had 
to be called in to finish such articles, pronounces 
these scarabei to be of a late epoch. However 



70 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

that may be, they were much in favour with the 
Etruscans, for rings especially. As has been men- 
tioned in the account of Chiusi, they seem to have 
been much manufactured in Chiusi and have been 
picked up there without the City and away from the 
. tombs. Nor should the intaglios, often of great 
artistic worth, be omitted from the list of works 
produced by Etruscan workmen. Many of these, 
too, bear Etruscan inscriptions which, as in the 
instance of the " specchii " above referred to, would 
justify us in attributing them to native artists. 

Many ripe scholars and experienced archaeologists 
have been excessively wary in their pronouncements 
as to how far the Etruscans can be credited with 
the artistic faculty : — whether they at any time of 
their history worked independently of Greek influ- 
ence |0r not. I think that the general consensus 
of such experts is, that very early in their history, 
', and before there was any Hellenic Art at all, the 
* Etruscans .developed in Italy, if not a School of 
Art, strong, if rude, artistic proclivities. 

Others, scholars less ripe and experienced, and 
certainly less wary, and whose excessive veneration 
for Hellenic Art has closed their eyes to the possi- 
bility of the existence of any other, have denied 
any gleam of artistic insight until the arrival of 
Demaratus from Corinth upon the Tyrrhenian or 
Adriatic shores. Yet, it is quite certain, so far as 
anything can be declared certain in days when 
there were no historians, that in some of the oldest 
Cities in Etruria there were paintings and pottery- 
making, and also works of goldsmiths and bronze- 
smiths. 

I do not hold to the opinion of some of the 
writers of one hundred and fifty years ago, such as 
D.'Hancarville and others who expressed their views 



THE ARTS OF THE ETRUSCANS 71 

that the Etrus:cans possessed artists, even architects, 
before the days of the earUest Greek artists ; 
'(D'Hancarville went so far as to express an opinion 
that the Doric column was an adaptation of the 
earUer Tuscan). I think much is to be said 
in favour ^f the influence of Assyrian Art having 
spread to the ^gean Isles and even into Tiryns, 
Mycenae, and Argos, a;nd thence into Italy — not 
to mention the possibility of Egyptian influence 
having even preceded that of the Assyrian. And I 
am very strongly imbued with the idea that it was 
the Pelasgians, the predecessors of the Etruscans, 
who introduced the Mycenaean or !^gean art into 
It^ly. 

^ It is in accordance with the declared opinions 
of recognised historians that the Pelasgians founded 
Tiryns, (by far the most ancient), Argos and Mycen^, 
and whence this Mycenaean or this ^gean art origi- 
nated. And it has to be observed in particular that it 
was in goldsmiths' work that these very Pelasgians 
excelled ; so much so, that those writers and archaeo- 
logists who have made a special study of the beautiful 
'golden prnaments, e.g., the necklaces, the fibulae, 
the jear-rings, Sec, found in Etruria, have declared 
the most artistically worked of these articles to have 
been produced by Pelasgian artists. i That these owed 
their origin to the Mycenaean or !^gean civilisa- 
tion, no one who has seen the Schliemann -Museum' 
at Athens can have any doubts whatever. Some of 
the necklaces, and of details of ornamentation, such 
as buttons, bosses, and plaques, are identical. 

» "To the Pelasgi . . . must undoubtedly be referred the fine 
articles of gold, archaic, extremely workmanlike, very thinly 
wrought, sewn with minute golden grains, and studded with stumpy 
figures with marked outlines of an Egyptian character" (Professor 
Lepsius). 



72 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Such similarities suffice to establish, j&rstly, that 
it was the Mycenaean Art that found its way into Italy 
: — long before there was any Hellenic Art properly 
so-called, and, secondly, that the Mycenaean Art was 
introduced into Italy first by means of the Pelasgi, 
and afterwards reinforced by the Etruscan invaders. 

It would be an interesting studj to investigate 
other similarities between the Pelasgi and the Etrus- 
cans, but the limits of this introductory sketch will 
not allow of that. 



CHAPTER V 

THE ETRUSCAN LANGUAGE 

Amongst all the conoindruins which the Etruscan 
Sphinx has put to Us, Archaeologists and Palseo- 
graphists have found that of the Language to be the 
most baffling. So far as our guesses have gone, 
there seems no chance yet awhile of the Sphinx ^ 
throwing herself into the ocean. Rousseau declared 
languages to be the " tristes filles de la necessite." 
Had he come into contact with those weifd and 
incomprehensible characters which represent the 
Etruscan language he would not have modified his 
expression. No ancient writer troubled himself at 
all with that aspect of the Etruscan question. Diony- 
sius, having made up his mind that the Etruscan Race 
was native to the soil, did not think it necessary to 
touch upon the subject of their: language. iWe may 
infer therefore that he considered that they spoke 
one of the tongues then current in the country. May 
we not infer also from' the silence of all the other 
writers that to them' the language did not present the 
same mysterious character as it does to 'us moderns . 
In the opinion of some of us it is a Greek patois ; of 

* The reader will remember the old story of CEdipus solving the 
riddle, and the Sphinx hurling herself into the sea to hide her 
mortification. 

73 



74 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

others that it is only one of the imdeciphered Italian 
dialects ; others hold that there is mtich Greek in the 
language with an admixture of Latin, and some are 
in favour of much Latin with a sprinkling of Greek. 
Some have arrived at the conclusion, (whatever be the 
tongue,) that in all the inscriptions brought to light 
— whether in sepulchres on walls or on stele — it is 
a. sort of shorthand, probably phonetic. That the 
vowels are generally elided and that you must 
aspirate whatever letters remain. As to the charac- 
ters themselves, they are of Archaic Greek, differing 
but little from the Pelasgi. The number of letters 
in the two alphabets, however, differ mUch. The 
Pelasgians had twenty-two, the Etruscans sixteen. 
The letters which are deficient in the Etruscan 9.re 
beta, gamma, delta, eta, xi, both the " os " ar^d 
perhaps " psi." It is curious, almost pathetic, that 
the Etruscans, as if aware of the poverty oi their 
language and seeking to conceal that poverty, had 
sometimes four forms of a letter, and in one case, 
that of their " T," they had five forms. It is very 
difficult for us moderns to conceive how any nation 
could get on without an " Oi " in their language. 
kWhat did the little boys cry out when they weire 
flogged? iWhat did the slaves exclaim when they, 
were beaten, (a. not infrequent event if report be 
true.) How did people ventilate their feelings when 
teeth were drawn? For we know from discoveries of 
*' rateliers " and of dentists' instruments that dentis- 
try was a science much cultivated in Etruria. Could 
a " U " have sufficed to carry off the lamentations of 
these afflicted classes? And the soldiers too ! How 
did they express their sensations whether victorious 
or vanquished? Could they have got in all their 
emotions within the two horns of a U? 

It jn^y be observed, as regards the many different 



THE ETRUSCAN LANGUAGE 75 

forlm's of certain; letters, that this may have arisen 
from the wide extension of the Race throughout the 
Three Etrurias. The language may have been in- 
fluenced by Dscans, I^atins, or Celtic Gauls, as these 
various races were respectively subjected by the 
Etruscans. For as Lianzi suggests, it is more prob- 
able that the Etruscans formed their language out 
of those current in the country than the contrary. It 
is probable, also, that there was no great difference 
at that early epoch in Italy between one language and 
another. It is unfortunate for students who have 
sought for guidance in this recondite subject of 
language that no date can be fixed for any, 
inscription that has been found. There was a 
m;oment indeed, at the time of the discovery of the 
Eugubian Bronze-tables, when it was ardently hoped 
that at last a key to the riddle had been found : a 
series of Rosetta-stones it seemed, which, as in the 
case of the solution of the Egyptian language, might 
enable us to decipher that of the Etruscans. » Yet 
although two tablets are in Latin, and supposed to be 
more recent by two hundred years than the Umbrian, 
scholars have not succeeded in mastering the meaning 
of any of them:. Nor have the frequent bilingual 
inscriptions upon Etruscan sepulchres and urns been 
of much use to us. They have taught us some of 
the equivalents of proper names, — little more — and 
even those are not always consistent. But if these 
bilingual inscriptions have not much assisted us in 

^ The Eugubian Tables are seven in number and were found 
in 1444 at Iguvium, the modern "Gubbio." Four of these Tables 
are in Umbrian, two in Latin, and one in Etruscan letters. The 
lines, like the Etruscan, run from right to left. The letters show that 
there is little difference between the Umbrian character and the 
Pelasgic, and we have already learned that the Pelasgic and 
Etruscan characters are very similar. The Umbrian are said to 
be thejmost ancient, — perhaps about 400 B.C. 



76 IN ANCIENT ETRUEIA 

deciphering the Etruscan tongue, they establish one 
iniportant point at least, that the language was not 
a mystery to the Romans. And a: remark made by 
Livy I on the subject had already told us that : "In 
those tijn'es the Roman youth were commonly in- 
structed in the Etruscan language as they now are 
in the Greek." And Livy further quotes as an in- 
stance of the familiarity of the Romans with that 
tongue, " that in 309, the brother of Consul M. 
Fabius, haiving been educated at C^re, was perfectly 
acquainted with the Etruscan language." 

Yet there is a strange fact, also, recorded by an 
ancient writer which may be noted with regard to 
these Eugubian Tablets. Although it is supposed, 
aind upon good grounds, that the Roman language 
was derived from the Umbrian, the Romans did not 
understand Umbrian, so much so that the Romans, 
** desiring to negotiate some matter with the 
Umbrians, had to employ an Etruscan as an inter- 
preter." That fact shows, if we wanted an additional 
proof, how entirely the Romans had lost the power 
of deciphering their own primitive language. That 
we knew already upon the authority of some of their 
own writers, and that they were unable to decipher 
their own ancient writings, e.g., the hymn of ithe 
Fratres Arvales. 

That the early writings of the primitive Italian 
Races were inscribed in archaic Greek characters, 
has been remarkably established by the discovery 
in very recent years of the " Tomb of Romulus " in 
the Roman Forum. A small stele, or cippus, found 
in that tomb is inscribed with such characters, 
possibly of a Chalcidic type. That inscription is 

' It is remarkable that, notwithstanding this remark, Niebuhr 
should have said in a Lecture, that the Romans did not understand 
Etruscan. 



THE ETRUSCAN LANGUAGE 77 

referred to the 6th, or evm 7th, Century B.C., and 
although it has been only partially deciphered, it may 
fairly be claimed as evidence of the language spoken 
by the primitive Romans. ^ That the Romans had 
long ceased the use of Greek characters by no means 
implies that the other races of Italy had abandoned 
the custom. Indeed, it is apparent from the 
Eugubian Tables that the Etruscans and Umbrians 
at least wfere employing Greek characters three 
hutndred years after the foundation of Rome. 

iWhat conclusion, then, m'ay we draw from the above 
considerations as regards the Etruscan tongue? May 
we regard it as one of the Oscan or Italian languages 
written in primitive Greek letters, varying in many 
ways and forms, and influenced by the differing Races 
with whom the Etruscans came into contact ; O scans, 
Latins, Volscians, even Pelasgians and Celtic Gauls? 

In short we may, if the above suggestions be 
tenable, regard the Etruscan language as an 
amalgam, much in the same way as we have expressed 
an opinion that their religion was an amalgam. We 
shall not have much difficulty in recognising Perse 
as Perseus, Apulu as Apollo ; Melakre, Pultuke, Pele 
to be Meleager, Pollux and Peleus. We may even 
believe, what I believe to be the fact, that not only 
names and words varied in sound in different pro- 
vinces in Etruria, but that their very Deities were 
interchangeable. Venus sometimes appears as 
Thalna, a name in another district sacred to Juno, 
Bacchus (Phuphlams) in another part of Etruria 
assimies the awful name of " Tinia," or Jove himself. 
Sethlans (Vulcan) is sometimes Selcanes and Seth- 
lana ; Mercury, of rare appearance, becomes Camiths. 
No Greek could have been responsible for such 

' Both Pliny and Tacitus admit that even the Latin characters 
were derived from the Greek, 



78 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

barbarous nomenclature. We must assign such names 
to the native Races. Yet we find Lanzi,' who had 
already declared his opinion that he found twenty 
Latin words for one Greek upon the Eugubian Tables, 
laboriously toiling to find Greek derivations for these 
uncouth native deities. Signor Fregni,2 a much more 
modem philologist, and one far more consistent and 
illuminating, boldly declares himself for a native 
origin of the Etruscan language, " Only by means," 
he says, " of the ancient dialects of Italy can we read 
and understand the Etruscan and Umbrian charac- 
ters. Their inscriptions : " Sono tutte scritte a 
caratteri 3 uniti, a parole abbreviate, a * sigle ' for- 
tissime, a piu parole in una." " Take the words 
to pieces, and you will find the Latin language 
beneath the rustic Latin and the ancient dialects of 
Italy," &c. 

Signor Fregni has certainly the courage pf his 
opinions, and goes on with great ability to reduce 
to their native elements, not only the inscriptions of 
the Florence " Arringatore," and of the famous 
Perugia-tomb of the Velimni, but he grapples, upon 
the same principle, with the immense difficulties pre- 
sented in the Eugubian Tables . The particular value 
of these remarks by Signor Fregni seems to the 
present writer to lie in his classing together the 
Etruscan and Umbrian languages as ancient Latin 
dialects. The Romans, as has been observed, under- 
stood one of them, but not the other. Nor does that 
present any difficulty to the acceptation of Signor 
Fregni's theory. For we have already learned that 

' Lanzi, on "Bronze Mirrors," vol. i, p. 191. 

' It should be noted that Signor Fregni has not been by any 
means singular in this theory of the Etruscan language being an 
old Italian dialect. But no other writer, so far as I have seen, has 
worked out the theory. 

3 "Sui Caratteri Etruschi ed Umbri Dell' Aw." Giuseppe Fregni, 
di Modena. Modena, 1898. 



THE ETRUSCAN LANGUAGE 79 

the Romiains could not read their own archaic dialect 
even when written in Latin characters. Signor 
Fregni's method suggests great, — though not insuper- 
able — difficulties. It is a sound one, and a student 
proceeding on the lines pointed out, would first have 
to acquire a mastery over those ancient Latin or 
Oscan dialects, and then the formidable task would 
present itself of supplying the deficient vowels, of 
separating the words that are run one into another, 
and of interpreting the *' sigle." But Signor Fregni, 
and his followers, too, if they present themselves, 
would, it seems to the writer, be upon the right track. 
It has always seemed to the writer, at least, that 
the investigators, the inquirers into the language, have 
not only been impatient, but that they have been too 
discursive, and in many instances far too unsys- 
tematic. They have been too deductive in their 
methods. They have assumed, — many of them have 
done so — that the Etruscans were Orientals, — Greeks, 
— Phoenicians, — what not, and then have endeavoured 
to square the lamguage with preconceived notions of 
the provenance of the Race. The reverse process 
should have been adopted, and in the case of the 
Umbrians it has been adopted. That language is 
full of Celticisms, aind thence we might argue that the 
Umbrians " ab origine " were Celts, a very large 
and prolific origin we admit, although it is not jin 
the least incumbent upon us to pronounce the 
Umbrians to be Gaujs. 

\ No science in the world demiands more patience in 
investigation than that of the study of language. It 
is just that patience which has not always been forth- 
coming in the study, of the Etruscan language, for 
otherwise how could some ripe scholars, and erudite 
men too, have persistently urged us to regard 
Etruscans as Greeks, because they made use of a 



80 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Greek character and also because they encouraged 
Greek art. It is just because Signor Fregni's method 
does not only suggest, but demands patience in the 
highest degree, that his system is to be commended 
to the earnest, patient, unbiassed and enterprising 
students of all countries. 

Some readers at this point may very well ask for 
information as to the existence of the Greek language, 
or rather Greek alphabet, in Italy. I will therefore, 
premising that I will not touch upon Evander, no, 
nor yet upon the much later Demaratus, just glance 
at what some of the authorities have said as to the 
arrival of the Language in Italy. 

Dr. Mommsein,^ for instance, considers that the 
Greek alphabet which reached Etruria is essentially 
different from that communicated to the Latins. 
iWhile the former is so primitive that for that very 
reason its special origin can no longer be ascertained, 
the latter exhibits exactly the signs and forms which 
were used by the Chaleidic and Doric Colonies of 
Italy and Sicily. Niebuhr held the same opinion. 
** Few doubt that Pelasgic Colonists established in 
very remote times on the Northern shores of Italy, 
may have mingled their blood with the tribes that 
formed the main root of the Latin nation, and of 
course had a share in the construction of their 
language." 2 

Pliny also held that the Pelasgi had brought 
letters into Latium. Lanzi considered the Pelasgic 
letters to be Anti -Trojan ; those archaic letters which 
both Etruscans and Pelasgians made use of in Italy, 
although the Pelasgians possessed more of them than 
the Etruscans. Why, or how, the Etruscans, a later 
people thain the Pelasgians, in Italy should have 

' V. Westropp's " Handbook of Archaeology." 
' From the review of Mr. Jakel's Essay on "Latin Speech and 
Roman Folk," Quarterly Review, January, 1832. 



THE ETRUSCAN LANGUAGE 81 

adopted the more ancient number of sixteen letters 
is not to be explained except upon the a^ssumption 
that some Greek alphabet had been; in use amongst 
some of the Italic peoples even before the Pelasgic 
settlement. Sixteen letters originally formed the 
number in use of both Phoenician and Greek alphabets 
alike, yet whatever be the number of letters used 
by the Etruscans, one depressing conclusion is to be 
drawn, that the Etruscans possessed no literature 
whatever. It seems to have been possible for an 
ancient and powerful Race to have possessed the arts 
of Music, Painting, and Sculpture, and to have arrived 
at a great height of culture, refinement and luxury, 
and yet not to have felt the desire of commimicating 
their thoughts upon any one branch of human know- 
ledge, neither to their fellows, nor to posterity. 

iWe jmay well ask, what were educated or intel- 
lectual Etruscans doing during their thousand years 
of domination in Italy. kWhen they were not fighting, 
playing, dancing, banqueting, racing, hunting, — had 
they no intellectual pursuits? kWas no great man 
deserving of sortie commemorative pen or stylus, 
even if they had no Thucydides among them? Did 
the long Sieges of Veii produce no great jname! 
worthy of an Ode from some native Tyrtasus or 
Pindar? ^We do not ask for sl Persius, or an Euri- 
pides, or a Homer, but we might have expected 
at least the minute shrill reed-pipe of some native 
Collins. 

Must we then suppose that even in Etruria there 
was some " craven fear of being great," or that 
the benumbing, blighting influence of a Dunciad of 
Priests forbade the self-assertion of any one (man 
who stood without their paralyzing Circle. And if 
the voice of the Poet was stifled, that of the philo- 
sopher or of the astronomer wojuld have been even 
more effectually giagged. 

6 



PART II 

CHAPTER I 

VOLTERRA 

The foot-fall of the foreigner so familiar elsewhere 
in Italy is a rather rare sound in the streets of 
Volterra. That seems surprising when one thinks 
of the vast hordes of travellers that are annually 
dispersed all over Italy. Yet the City is easily 
3.ccessible from Cecina, a station on the main line 
of Pisa -Rome, and the guide-books are not reticent. 
Amongst all the hill-cities of Italy the position of 
Volterra is the most splendid, and certainly yields 
to no other City in antiquity. She can still point 
to existing Etruscan walls ^s a monument of her 
fame in days when Rome still was a village of 
wattle-huts. And even for those who do not interest 
themselves in things Etruscan, her street-architecture, 
her remains of mediaeval art, her pictures by native 
or foreign artists are not less striking or less interest- 
ing than those of Perugia or of Pisa. 

It may be that the long and arduous ascent from 
the Railway Station to the City may deter travellers 
in these hurrying days, from exploring this attractive, 



VOLTERRA 83 

though far -withdrawn old City. Or' it may be the 
absence of an Hotel possessed of all the modern 
comforts which we are supposed to regard as indis- 
pensable. Yet, so far as concerns the writer at least, 
he found the long drive very enjoyable, and suggestive, 
and the modest resources of the unpretentious Inn, or 
Inns, (for there are two quite possible) sufficiently, 
commodious. Doubtless, now that automobiles are 
penetrating into all the most secret places of the 
globe, Volterra will become as familiar as Florence, 
although I am quite sure that the aggravating hoot 
of the motor-car will conduce neither to the pleasure 
of !the reflective pedestrian, nor to the well-being of 
the ubiquitous baby. But we may drop such irre- 
levant contingencies, and assuming that the traveller 
in ancient Etruria may have made Volterra the first 
stage in his progress, he will not object to the title- 
page jof this volume. For " Uphill " upon the 
steepest of roads it is, whether he leaves the train 
altogether at Cecina itself, or takes the branch-line 
to the Salt Works at the so-called Volterra Station, 
which latter course abbreviates the carriage trip to 
be made. In either case uphill the road is, and of 
the steepest, until the grey old City is reached. 
The ascent is so gradual that the traveller will not 
only have ample time to study and admire the ever 
growing and expanding scenes beneath him, but also 
to wonder at the impressive and quite un-Italian 
character of the surroundings. For you do not find 
yourself amid chestnut groves nor amid olive trees, 
nor among stretches of vineyards, nor amongst the 
glistening verdure of orange and lemon trees. You 
are ascending a succession of low hills of a blueish 
clay, unadorned by vegetation. A strange geological 
formation, full of lumps and bumps — very much re- 
sembling a modelled bird's-eye view of a landscape. 



84 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

This strange and monotonous formation is here and 
there relieved by patches of young wheat and by 
sudden dashes of a pecuHarly scarlet veitch. Yet, 
as you are plodding your way, — (the nature of the 
tortuous road will not allow of a brisker progress,) 
through these expanses of weird and almost uncanny 
blue hillocks, I would counsel you to sit with your 
back to the horses and to keep your eyes well down 
to the South upon the low ground whence you started. 
And indeed it is useless to be looking out yet for 
the point for which you are making. The Walls 
and Towers of Volterra are hid from you still, or 
will be concealed by every other turn of the road for 
a long time to come. And it is very necessary that 
you should thus become acquainted with the sinuous 
course of that little river below, (You descended 
upon its banks when you left the train just now.) 
For that humble stream is probably the most ancient 
thing bearing a name in Etruscan history. The 
Etruscans called it Ceicna. Now, that small word — 
gives ius, as the French put it, furiously to think. 
For that name belonged to an Etruscan noble family, 
perhaps the most ancient, certainly the most enduring 
family of which we have record. Whether the River 
baptized the family, or the family gave the pame 
to the River we can never know. But certainly they 
were coeval and contemporaneous — so far as our 
knowledge goes, for something like two thousand 
years. I used the word "enduring" — because only 
150 years ago the last representative of the family, 
a Bishop, died in his ancestral City, and now he lies, 
not in the ancestral Tomb, but in his grave in the 
Cathedral. Three tombs of the family in Etruscan 
times have been discovered, yet methinks the best 
epitaph for the Bishop, and one that would endure 
as long as the river flows would be, " Here lies one 



VOLTERRA 85 

whose name is writ in water." It may be mentioned 
en passant^ that two of the family are recorded in 
Roman history as friends of Cicero, long ago of 
course after that the glory of the family had faded, 
and when Rome had g^athered under her overpowering 
wings all things Etruscan, — Volterra: and Ceicna alike. 

There was also a town called Ceicna, somewhere 
upon the Coast betwixt Populonia and Pisa, and 
a Necropolis at Beloria belonging to the town. 

We come across another Ceicna or Cecina in the 
times of Vitellius. He assisted in defeating Otho. 
But when Vespasian came to the fore he deserted 
Vitellius . 

The River could have been rarely serviceable as 
a waterway to Volterra, but as it issues at the old 
Port of Volterra, known still as Vada Volterrana, it 
may have been of some slight use. A Roman villa 
belonging to an Albinius Cecina in the 5th Century 
A.D. was unearthed many years ago at Vada. 

You may see another River still further off from 
the City to the South -West. It is called the Era. 
It is of no historical mark. 

As you draw nigh to the City the somewhat savage 
nature of the landscape is transformed into a rich 
belt of verdure out of which she lifts herself with 
her towers and battlemented walls. But that which 
claims your immediate gaze, for it seems to engross 
quite half the City upon the South-Eastern side, 
is the huge Fortress -Prison known as the Rocca, 
or Castello. A wholly mediseval structure this, and 
although probably raised upon Etruscan foundations, 
possesses nothing visible of Etruscan masonry. 

And indeed, the famous walls of the City, which 
are nearly five miles in girth, may be pronounced to 
be generally of mediaeval construction, although the 
builders have in many places availed themselves pf 



86 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

the large Etruscan parallelograms which are seen 
cropping out here and there in the enceinte. Even 
if the character of the walls were not distinctly, 
mediceval, the height of them alone would prove 
them not to be Etruscan. For the Etruscans never, 
I think, erected walls of any considerable height 
around their Cities. Lofty defences came in with 
their successors. I imagine therefore that in order to 
raise the walls to the desired height, at Volterra at 
least, the Etruscan parallelograms were often broken 
up into smaller blocks required by the later 
architects. That will account for the large disappear- 
ance of the Etruscan walls. 

We have no information as to the original occupa- 
tion on the site of this prodigious Fortress or 
*' Rocca." But we may be quite sure that the eyes 
of that acute people were not closed to the advan- 
tages of this commanding site of some seventeen 
hundred feet above sea-level. Here would naturally 
have been their Citadel. Indeed, the name " Rocca " 
which it still bears, signified in old days the Citadel. 
As a specimen of 14th-century military architecture 
nothing more imposing is to be seen in Italy. For 
although the greater portion of the fortress is attri- 
buted to the epoch of Lorenzo II Magnifico and his 
immediate successors, Gualtieri, Duke of Athens, who 
was Lord of Volterra in 1343, is mentioned as having 
been largely concerned in the erection thereof. It 
is a gigantic and formidable congeries of crenelated 
walls and towers dominated by the battlemented and 
greatest tower of all known as "II Mastio." 

" Abbandonate ogni speranza voi ch'entrate " It 
announces, in every line of its huge mass, to the 
unfortunate victim of despotism or to the convicted 
felon of to-day. Yet so fair is its architecture it does 
not depress you so. much with gloom as appal you 



VOLTERRA 87 

by terrific massiveness . If it possessed a few windows 
without, (there are plenty within the Court) you might 
think it a Palace. To-day it is a gaol for felons 
only, and officially entitled " Casa di reclusione ed 
Ergastolo." 

\ Since Italy became a free nation political offenders 
as such are no more, or if they call themselves 
" political *' they are politicians who have committed 
some breach of the civil law. 

Two of the family of the Pazzi were immured 
here after the famous conspiracy of that name against 
Lorenzo II Magnifico. The latest political offenders 
imprisoned in this fortress were Francesco Marmocchi 
and F. D. Guarrazzi in the last century. The fortress 
being under military jurisdiction, it is necessary to 
procure permission to enter from the General Com- 
manding at Pisa. From this lofty point one of the 
finest and most extensive views in Tuscany may be 
obtained. For Volterra forms the loftiest and 
proudest crest of the billowing sea of hills around 
her. Far away to the North-East you can see the 
heights that encircle Fiesole and Florence, and upon 
the North-West the bold marble crags of Carrara, 
so strangely disregarded by the Etruscan builders. 
Nearer upon the South-West you can distinguish the 
hills occupied by Sienna. Beneath us Southwards 
we liave already traced the course of the sinuous 
Cecina, and the other smaller river, the Era, may 
be observed hard by stealing modestly away to the 
South -West. Far away to the South the bold head- 
land of Populonia, the ancient port of Volterra, rears 
itself above the Tyrrhenian waters. And further 
beyond may be discerned the Isles of Elba' and 
Capra;ja;, and even Corsica. 



CHAPTER II 

VOLTERRA 

It is believed that the dominion of Volterra extended 
as far as Arezzo some fifty miles distant to the East, 
and some suppose that Luna (Spezia) of which we 
hear so much and know so little, was also subject 
to her. So it seems that Volterra dominated almost 
all the territory that she could distinguish from her 
lofty Citadel. How strong her defences must have 
been we may see from the stout remains of het 
massive walls. And we can estimate their strength 
when we remember that Sylla the Irresistible was 
employed two years in battering down her strong 
places before the capture of the City. For Volterra 
had made the same fatal mistake which cost so many 
of her sister cities so dear, that of putting her money 
upon the wrong horse j that is, of espousing the 
cause of Marius. And so; she fell into the powierful 
hands of his successful rival and became incor- 
porated into the Roman dominion. 

It is in the Gates of a walled City, whatever may 
be the antiquity thereof, that the chief interest lies. 
It is here that the vicissitudes of her history and the 
fortunes of her inhabitants may best be learned. It 
is so with Volterra. It is consequently mortifying in 
an Etruscan City to. find that the gates are all com- 

88 



VOLTERRA 89 

pSratively recent. There is but one Gate that can be 
assigned to the Etruscan epoch, and that has been 
so pften renewed and even reconstructed that were 
it not for the representation thereof upon two 
cinerary urns, we should have hesitated to refer its 
construction to an Etruscan architect. It would have 
assisted us greatly in learning something more pf 
the history of Volterra, had the Etruscan or even the 
Roman names of these gates been handed down to 
us. But as we can scarcely flatter ourselves that we 
have ascertained one word of the Etruscan language, 
we cannot even guess what was the Etruscan word 
for " Gate." The Porta all' Arco being that which 
possesses most of the Etruscan character it will be 
not amiss to examine every detail. The Porta all' 
Arco consists of a double archway, twenty feet in 
height and thirty feet in depth and united by parallel 
walls of Etruscan niasonry consisting of long blocks 
of stone without mortar. Ovet the outer arch are 
three stone heads, the features of which are almost 
obliterated. Although you can scarcely discern a 
distinct feature upon their time -battered heads, the 
pose of them is suggestive of deities vigilant pver 
the destinies of the City. 

They seem to demand your mission. If such were 
their purpose their functions have been superseded 
by the inevitable *' dazio consumo " or " douane " 
never absent from a city-gate throughout the wide 
lands of Italy. 

Those who have written upon Volterra have 
supposed these heads to be those of the Etruscan 
triune deities ; Thalna', Tinia, and Menefra. 

And this idea seems to be corroborated when you 
inspect a cinerary urn in the Museum. The reliefs 
upon this urn represent a combat — supposed to be 
that pf the " Seven against Thebes," (it adorns, 



90 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

curiously enough, the sarcophagus of a. lady) and on 
which an artist in favour of local colouring has 
introduced this very Gate.^ 

That the Gateway has been reconstructed there 
can be no doubt, for into many of the Etruscan blocks 
tiles have been inserted. Three kinds of stone have 
been used in the construction of the Arch. The door- 
posts and the parallelepiped blocks within the Arch 
are of panchina [(a yellowish stone much in request 
in Volterra work). The voussoirs of the Arch and 
the imposts are of travertine, and the three heads 
over the Arch are of a greyish peperino. Inside of 
the Arch may be tra;ced the channels for a portcullis. 
An ancient invention certainly, for it can be seen in 
many old gateways, at Pompeii, e.g. But as we 
find it in Roman times and also in the mediaeval 
epoch, it cannot be regarded as peculiar to the 
Etruscans. Although the introduction of the Arch 
in Italy is attributed to the Etruscans, it is doubtful 
whether that people availed themselves generally of 
the Arch in the construction of gates. But that it was 
known to them' and practised in bridges and works 
of drainage, such as the Cloaca Maxima in the Roman 
Forum, and in the Arch at the Gravisca Port of 
Tarquina discovered by Mr. Dennis, there can be 
little question. 2 

V The Porta all' Arco is then the only Gate which 
may be attributed to the Etruscans, and the absence 
of others certainly proves that the present walls do 
not follow those of the Etruscan enceinte. Certainly 

' A cinerary urn precisely similar to this is to be seen in the 
Etruscan Museum in Florence, and there is another (wanting the 
arch, however) in the Inghirami Tomb at Volterra. 

' At Perugia, e.g., another famous Etruscan City, where much 
Etruscan masonry remains, no arched gateway of the Etruscan 
epoch can be seen. The Gateways that may be attributed to 
them are, or were, Square. Arches have been subsequently added. 



VOLTERRA 91 

we know that the mfediaeval wall which may be re- 
ferred to the times of Otho I., broke off from the 
Etruscan to the South of the present Porta S. Fran- 
cesco (upon the South-West) and running due North, 
turned to the East so far as the Porta k Selci, where 
may have been an Etruscan Gate, and at which point 
there is a gi^eat deal of Etruscan masonry preserved 
in the walls. The great Fortezza here was doubtless 
constructed upon the Etruscan Arx and conceals all 
that primitive stronghold. 

The imposing appearance of the Walls of the City, 
the introduction into them; of large and massive blocks 
of Etruscan masonry, and above all the famous 
Etruscan Porta dell' Arco, have so strong an influence 
upon the mind of the newcomer that at first sight 
he is led to believe that he is contemplating an 
Etruscan enceinte. But he is undeceived, not only 
by the general character of the masonry of the walls 
themselves when he comes to go round them, but 
by the information that the modern enceinte has the 
modest circuit of but 3,209 yards, and that the 
Etruscan periphery was more than double that figure, 
viz., 7,280 yards, '(l give the Italian metro as a 
yard.) That at once explains the large remains of 
Etruscan walls so far without the present perimeter, 
especially in the direction of S . Giusto, Santa Chiara, 
and the Badia Churches . 

The position Of modern Volterra, though lofty, is 
a very defective one for defence. Built upon a long, 
narrow hill, it has — ]^(viewed from the South) — an im- 
posing appearance, but any idea of its apparent 
strength is instantly dissipated when you get round 
to the back of it. You find [(a good point to study it 
from; the North is the Church of the Seminario) the 
northern side of the hill split up. and intersected by 
ravines, and the entire City exposed to the view of 



92 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

an enemy. You find, too, at the weakest point upon 
this side a Gate, the Porta della Docciola, planted 
down in the Valley at an angle formed by two con- 
verging slopes. It forms no protection at all to the 
City, which seems here to be bodily falling into the 
valley. The Gate is very small. As a defensive point 
it is ludicrous, were it not so picturesque you would 
be moved to laughter. You may be quite sure that 
the Etruscans had nothing to do with it. Not at this 
point would it have been possible to defy the army 
of Sylla for two years as they did from their own 
walls. Far to the North beyond this point were the 
Etruscan defences. And to ascertain what line they 
held you must walk to the so-called Porta di Diana, or 
the " Portone," as it is also called, which led to 
the Etruscan Necropolis. This quite modern gate 
stands upon the site of the Etruscan Gate. There 
are great blocks of tufa around and above which in 
themselves suffice to mark the site as having been 
the Etruscan Gate,' which led to their Necropolis. 
Hence the Etruscan walls extended on the East 
[(slight remains can still be distinguished in the 
ravines, and more might be discovered were the 
dense undergrowth and brushwood removed) in the 
direction of the district known as the Buche dei 
Saraceni. Short of that point the Etruscan wall took 
a sharp turn to the South, and upon the line of the 
present wall, to the modern Porta a Selci. At this 
point probably the Rocca or Arx stood, and upon or 
near the site of the modern great Fortress-Prison. 
Thence the wall took a Western course, being here 

^ It is inexplicable that some writers should have dilated upon 
this gate as an Etruscan one, — and having, as they aver, the same 
proportions and measurements as the Porta all' Arco ! It is a purely 
mediaeval structure, and of recent construction, and much smaller 
than the Porta all' Arco, 



VOLTERRA 93 

broken by the Porta dell' Arco — the only Etruscan 
Gate existing. Thence running along the brow of 
the hill, and not upon the present line of walls, — the 
Etruscan line of defence arrived at the modern Santa 
Chiara, where some fine remains still stand. Further 
on to the West it is to be feared that much of the) 
Etruscan masonry has been swallowed up in the gulf 
of the Baize. Taking up the line again in the S. Giusto 
suburb and near the Badia di S. Salvatore, the wall 
ran up again to the Porta di Diana which has just 
been alluded to. It will be seen, then, the general line 
of the Etruscan wall was far beyond the present 
enceinte, and also that, though far too extended and 
upon much lower ground, it held a less faulty position 
than the Mediaeval one, and one much more capable 
of defence. 

The frightful chasm of the Baize — ^(as we have ibeen 
upon the brink — ) needs here a few words of explana- 
tion. It forms an ever present, an incurable and 
gaping wound on the right flank of the City. Thfe 
geological formation of Volterra is composed of a thin 
layer of sandstone-rock resting upon a bed of the blue 
clay, which we have seen denuded and bare, cropping 
up along the steep ascent to the City. The waters 
above the earth and below the earth in the course of 
centuries percolating through this unstable clay, 
undermine the more solid formation above and cause 
these terrifying landslips. Never was there a more 
unreliable geological formation for the foundation of a 
City. Once upon a time, — as late as the 7th Century 
A.D. — there was a populous suburb here, highly cul- 
tivated, and bearing every appearance of prosperity. 
It has utterly disappeared into the abysses. Foolishly 
enough subsequent buildings were erected and have 
since been erected upon this deceitful promontory. 
San Giusto, a church dedicated to one of the earliest 



94 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Saints of Volterra, and judging by relics preserved 
in the Museum, containing valuable architectural 
ornaments, plunged into this fatal abyss, and has 
no more been heard of. And another Church also, 
that of S. Clemente. The adjoining Badia of San 
Salvatore, so lately as 1895, collapsed as though 
stricken by an earthquake, and is now a desolated 
ruin, and it seems evident that other edifices in the 
neighbourhood may meet with the same disastrous 
fate, although from time to time efforts have been 
made (by one of the later Dukes of Tuscany for 
example) to check what is, au fond, uncheckable. 
The inher'ent deterioration of the soil is past cure. 
No Curtius, — no number of Curtii — would avail. Not 
all the genius of an Archimedes could arrest the 
evil, for who could underpin the foundations of the 
world? 

But let us leave these sombre regions of Erebus 
and Dis for the more cheerful paths of upper air, — 
for the Museum at least. 



chapter: III 

THE MUSEUM AT VOLTERRA 

It is in the Museum where the greater portion of 
the Etruscan art of Volterra' is to be found. The 
treasures here displayed will leave an indelible im- 
pression upon the minds of those who here, perhaps, 
obtain their first glimpses of artistic Etruria. 

It is certainly startling to find yourself in a sort 
of cemetery, confronting and confronted by some 
six hundred recumbent figures. It is well-nigh 
solemn, but that you are reassured by the affable 
countenances and dignified demeanour of these re- 
presentatives of Etruscan aristocracy. Judging from' 
the universal pose of expectancy, they are all quite 
as curious as to your errand as you are to theirs. 
For they all, — ladies included, — seem to have just 
started up, with their large serene faces fixed upon 
yours, all supporting themselves upon their left arms, 
and demanding your motive for breaking in upon 
their eternal repose. All of them dwarfs it would 
seem, so great is the disparity between their life- 
size heads and their stunted, cramped limbs. The 
artist, — no Greek tevidently, — unmindful of the re- 
stricted space allotted to him' and regardless of the 
laws of proportion, thought only of making a life- 
size portrait head of his subject, leaving the trunk 
and limbs to follow as best they could. ^ 

' At a later period this disparity disappears from the cinerary 

urns, and you meet with graceful little curled-up figures quite in 

proportion, 

95 



96 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA , 

But it is quite otherwise with the scenes repre- 
sented below the recumbent figures, upon the fronts 
of their sarcophagi -urns. These reliefs, — often in 
very high relief — are both in workmanship and design 
manifestly Greek. They are almost always repre- 
sentations of some Grecian historical event, poetic 
legend, or myth. 

That being so, it follows that the scenes depicted 
can have nothing to do with the biography of the 
individual whose cremated ashes are contained with- 
in. Very few life-size sarcophagi have been found 
at Volterra. In this Museum there are but two. 
Cremation of the dead was here the rule. It is still 
a matter of dispute whether inhumation or cremation 
be the most ancient mode of disposing of the dead. 
In many places in Italy they seem to have been con- 
temporaneous. And the discovery in Rome of the 
very ancient " Sepulcretum " in the Forum certainly 
is in favour of that opinion.^ 

A large majority of the cinerary urns are of 
alabaster, — that material being peculiar to the district, 
a substance easily worked and one especially favour- 
able for the artists who executed the reliefs. There 
are many cinerary urns also of tufa, probably these 
are of a more ancient date. Urns of terra-cotta, so 
abundant in most of the Etruscan cemeteries, are 
scarce in Volterra. I think that I noticed but three 
in this Museum. Many of the urns are gilded, and 
almost all are, — or have been, — coloured. As has been 
remarked, nearly all the reliefs represent subjects 
drawn from Greek poets and historians. Amongst 
the most familiar scenes are Helen and her brothers ; 

^ A German archaeologist, Rohde, believed that the custom of 
burning the dead arose amongst the Indo-Aryans, from the desire 
to effect the separation between body and soul more completely, 
and thus to banish the soul once and for all to the underworld. 



THE MUSEUM AT VOLTERRA 97 

the Dioscuri ; Pelops and Hippodatnia ; the expiation 
of Orestes and Pylades in Tauris ; Perseus ; the 
Flight of Medea from: Corinth ; the Hunt of the 
Calydonian Boar ; Dirce bound to the Bull ; Ulysses 
and the Syrens (often represented) ; CEdipus and the 
Sphinx ; the Sacrifice of Iphigenia ; Paris fighting 
with Menelaus and Philocretes ; the Death of Clytem- 
nestra and ^gisthos. And more frequently repre- 
sented than any other story is that of the '* Seven 
before Thebes," and the duel of Etcocles and Poly- 
nices. The former subject is of especial interest in 
Volterra, for the artist, '(probably one who has worked 
on the spot,) has, as we have seen, indulged in local 
colouring so far as to introduce into the scene the 
famous Porta all' Arco of Volterra. He has placed 
over the gate, too, those three heads, just as you 
may see them to-day. A vigorous combat is being 
waged in this relief, and Capaneus is represented 
as falling headlong down the ladder which he had 
just succeeded in fastening on to the wall. Yet his 
fall was not caused by the hand of any mortal enemy. 
Jove, as the legend goes, had hurled his bolt at the 
warrior. These bassi-rilievi -slabs which we have been 
considering, with their representations of Grecian his- 
tory, myths, and legends, do, I think, largely confirm 
the opinion that some of the Etruscans not only origi- 
nally came from some district of Greece, but that 
they preserved in Etruria much of their original belief 
in Grecian mythology. Why, otherwise, this passion 
for Grecian Gods and heroes as expressed in their 
sarcophagi? " What's Hecuba to him or he to 
Hecuba? " And that idea so largely carried out as 
to exclude generally the subjects of their own faith, 
and certainly those of their own heroes. 

Several of the cinerary urns, however, are purely 
Etruscan, and their reliefs are expressive of their 

7 



98 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

peculiar beliefs> and have nothing to do with subjects 
drawn frortt the Greek Pantheon. Those especially 
are interesting which represent the journey of the 
soul to bliss or; woe hei^eaf ter. I sorrowfully observed 
that the latter scene seemed to preponderate. For 
Charun (thus the Etruscans wrote Charon) seemed 
ubiquitous. A frightful monster with bristling ears 
and grinning jaws, and invariably arnled with a pon- 
derous hammer. It is most suggestive to us moderns 
that these ancient Etruscans should have possessed 
themselves so early in the world's history of our 
great dogmas of life beyond the grave and of a 
judgment to come. And it seems to have been no 
esoteric doctrine of the priests but one publicly pro- 
fessed by the people. For the origin of this creed 
of the Etruscans we must look to Egypt rather than 
to Hellas. Upon one cinerary urn you may see a 
soul, on horseback, starting on his final journey, 
the while his child seeks to detain him', and the 
emissary of Pluto, 1(1 suppose he is,) endeavours to 
urge him on to a brisker pace. Upon another urn 
the soul drives in a more comfortable manner and 
attended by some of his friends, upon a " carpentum " 
— the Etruscan low two -wheeled carriage — drawn by 
a pair of horses, whose heads are bent low with 
fatigue, or perhaps with sympathy. And as the 
chariot or car arrives in Erebus (the horses so 
fatigued generally) the soul is welcomed by the 
aiicestors. Meantime the winged Genius is never 
absent. One is happy to observe that Charun is not 
always present in the reliefs ; although on the 
frescoes he is very much to the fore. Some writers 
have thought that the heavy hanimer with which 
he is represented was used for punishment of the 
wicked. To me it seems rathet the natural emblem 
appropriate to the closer of the tomb. For hideous 



THE MUSEUM AT VOLTERRA 99 

as the representations of Charun are, — with fangs and 
grinning jaws and savage ears, '(and he is half negro 
also,) I do not think that he is intended to be very 
much more than an excessively churlish sexton. I 
daresay, too, that he may have been a comic note, in- 
troduced to supply a comic element. The Etruscans 
were full of contradictions of the kind. So un -Greek, 
in short. At times the soul is attended by a good 
Genius, although Charun is rarely absent. Some of 
the Etruscan reliefs are of lighter and more cheerful 
subjects. Banquets, horse-races, boar -hunts, and 
games. And anon you are depressed by something 
that looks very like a human sacrifice. But we must 
not assume that the Etruscans were in the habit of 
sacrificing their enemies.' 

iWe must hope that the charge brought against 
them; very frequently was an invention of their 
enemies, or if it were ever practised, that it happened 
" so very long ago," that, as some flighty believer: 
once said of a stupendous event, " it probably was 
not true ! " The two life-size sarcophagi here to 
which reference has been made, are likewise adorned, 
in one instance with a funeral -procession, and in the 
other with a wife and children taking leave of the 
paterfamilias. But these are Greek in spirit rather 
than Etruscan. 

Some writers, — Dennis amongst them, upon the 
ground that one or two recumbent figures upon 
sarcophagi 2 are of an Eastern type of countenance 

^ With respect to this charge of human sacrifice, there is a 
painted vase in the Museum at BerUn, the subject of which was 
long supposed to be a proof that the Etruscans practised cannibaUsm 
also. The scene has now been proved to be a delineation of 
moulding statues in separate pieces. 

^ The derivation of the word Sarcophagus is worth noting here. 
Pliny says that a peculiar stone, found in the territory of Assos in 
Asia Minor (in Mysia), has the property of wasting the bodies 



100 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

— have claim;ed for the Etruscaws an Eastern 
origin.' 

But, it may be asked, what is the general type 
of countenance when you survey, as in this Museum, 
a whole population of such figures? For you cannot 
found a theory upon the exceptional, as is clearly 
the case with the two sarcophagi noted below. The 
ethnological type is certainly a Caucasian one. All 
of them here, and in the Florence Museum, gathered 
from every Etruscan site, are quite Tuscan. Serene 
and comfortable patricians generally, or sleek 
burghers and yeomen whose experiences of life have 
certainly been pleasing. Men who never put to them- 
selves any inconvenient questions as to the " whence " 
or the " whither," but solaced themselves with the 
contemplation of a jovial past and a pleasing future. 
Most of them holding on to the wine cup to the last 
like Omar Khayyam. Just the same Tuscans whom 
you may observe any market-day in Florence 
bargaining and dealing with their fellows. Just the 
same well-fed partisans of the Mezzeria-land-system, 
— cheerful and rosy, — superintending the ploughing, 
and the pruning, and the reaping, whom you have 
often seen upon a hundred glowing Tuscan hill-sides. 
It is to be observed that many of these cinerary urns 
bear inscriptions both in Etruscan and in Latin. The 
latter, of course, are of a later epoch. For the 
most part the inscriptions are deeply cut and 
coloured. They are therefore very distinct and 
easily deciphered. I suppose we may infer that those 
without any characters are of very early date, and 

entombed; hence the term "sarcophagus," meaning "flesh-eating" 
(note in "Travels and Researches in Asia Minor," Sir Charles 
Fellows). 

* One of these sarcophagi is in the British Museum, the other in 
the Louvre. 



THE MUSEUM AT VOLTERRA 101 

those that beat neither reliefs nor figures to be still 
earlier. 

As an instance of the earlier type : that nide urn 
in which the ashes of S. Clemente were placed in 
the year 1140 a.d. may be mentioned. It is here. 

Although, as has been said, the Etruscans of 
Volterra did not avail themselves of terra-cotta for 
their ordinary urns so much as the Etruscans else- 
where, the collection of terra-cotta plates, cups, and 
dishes (mostly undecorated) is very abundant. And 
of the black bucchero ware i which we generally 
associate more peculiarly with Chiusi and Orvieto, 
there is a plentiful supply. 

There is certainly a deficiency of artistic vases in 
this Museum. Many of the vases are evidently of 
Etruscan artists who have been copying, unsuccess- 
fully, Greek examples. The majority of the vases 
are of white figures upon a black ground. However, 
far the prettiest specimen of the fictile art here is a 
polychrome vase in the shape of a duck. It is singu- 
larly fresh in colour. Volterra was not very active 
in this field of art, and is surpassed in that respect 
by most of the Etruscan cities. In articles of 
bronze, Volterra can make a much greater display. 
In vessels of bronze,— especially in their highly 
wrought handles, in bronze mirrors (" specchii "), 
in razors, and in ornaments of horse-trappings her 
artists have especially distinguished themselves. Yet 
I see few instances of arms and armour, and of the 
larger vessels of bronze, or of tripods such as have 
been found at Populonia and Vetulonia. And here, 
as telsewhere, bells which you would have expected 
to find everywhere in Etruria, are conspicuously 
absent. Amongst the bronzes a most curious long, 

' The peculiar black colour of this ware is supposed to have been 
produced by the introduction of bitumen into the clay. 



102 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

lank, bronze idol is certain to attract attention. It 
is about if feet in length, very uncanny, but quite 
artistic. It is a kind of embodied exhalation. 
" The Earth has bubbles, as the water hath, and 
I might be of either," it seems to say. The Louvre 
possesses one very similar, (I think from Vutci). 
There is ^ considerable show of small articles of 
gold ; necklaces, ear-rings, and finger-rings. Also 
a large silver wreath, and a smaller one of gold. 
The rings ^.re often of scarabasi, an ornament of 
which the Etruscans largely availed themselves. 
Some of these last may have been imported, but the 
Etruscans seem on sufficient evidence to have manu- 
factured them for themselves. I should say certainly 
those which bear figures and badges peculiar to them- 
selves. Many of their intagli here are very good, 
but the cameos shown in the Museum must have a 
Greek or Roman provenance, for the Etruscans do 
not appear to have made them at all. There are 
also many objects of glass ; small vessels, phials, 
cups and alabastra, — of the kind we are accustomed 
to class together, (on insufficient grounds), as 
Phoenician. I failed to discover Etruscan coins of 
gold or silver, but I observed several copper 
examples of Volterra herself. " Felathri " they are 
inscribed, for that was the Etruscan name of the 
City. They had not the Greek " V," the Hebrew 
" Vau," but used the Digamma, the " F, ". I found 
it difficult to spell out the word in Etruscan. " I 
can scarcely make it spell ' Felathri,' " I complained 
to the Custode of the Museum. " Ah I " he said, in 
Italian, " you must humour the letters a bit 1 " It 
was quite Irish in spirit, that remark of his, and 
caused both of us to rock with laughter. It seemed 
to me that many of the cur led-up -ones upon their 
urn-lids also rocked. And no wonder if they caught 



THE MUSEUM AT VOLTERRA 103 

hold of any chance of merriment. They could have 
had but a ighost of a joke for two thousand years 
and more. And as the bon mot under considera- 
tion piad been loosed at their own dead language 
they would have rocked the more. Really I thought 
that one did sit up. All this did not accelerate my 
lesson in Etruscan, but between us both we got out a 
satisfactory rendering. Many of these denarii have in 
high relief a double Janus helad, a sign which has been 
so often reproduced here that it has been accepted 
as the City Badge. Besides its Janus -heads, some 
of the Volterra coins are stamped with a Dolphin, 
which probably alludes to a seaport. Volterra had 
two ports, Populonia and Vada. A Dolphin, however, 
is not peculiar to the coinage of Volterra. The 
anicient City of Adria had also a Dolphin as ^its 
crest. In fact, there is scarcely any symbol that 
can be said to be peculiar to one Italian City more 
than another. In Greece the signs were more dis- 
tinctive. Yet some regard a winged Griffin tramp- 
ling upon a deer as the crest peculiar to Volterra. 
The figure is often to be seen in the City (and iri 
the Museum) sculptured with great spirit upon a 
stone altar, or a; cippus. I know not whether the 
Etruscans gave a start to this most ancient of Deities, 
Janus. He seems to have been a God common to 
all the ancient Races of Italy. Mommsen's opinion 
as to Janus being the only original Deity in the 
Roman Pantheon seems questionable therefore. 
There are philologists who have associated Janus 
with Japhet. I cannot pronounce upon that, but 
Jana, — for Janus seems to have been married, — is 
sometimes connected with Juno. And that name has 
been traced to a Lydian Jona or lona. Here a halt 
must be called, for in such a disquisition we shall 
be shipwrecked on Jonah, or break ourselves up on 



104 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

" Jah." And we must remember, too, that the 
Etruscans had no Juno. The Etruscans' substitute 
was " Thahia," a name untraced and untraceable. 

To return to the Museum (it must be hoped that 
many will do so). 

The most ancient relic is said to be a large flat 
slab of panchina stone — a stele bearing the full- 
length effigy of an Etruscan warrior in profile and 
armed from top to toe. In his right hand a spear, 
and his left resting on the scabbard of his sword. 
It recalls in rude, bold workmanship similar reliefs 
at Athens. It is of very primitive art, almost of an 
Egyptian type. Some antiquarians consider that it 
formed a door slab to a tomb.i 

It would be extremely rash to give a date to this 
relic. I will not venture to do so. It may be of 
an epoch co-eval with the foundation of the City, 
and for Volterra the hoariest antiquity has been 
claimed. One writer (Amidei) goes so far as to 
assign her apogee to the 13th Century B.C. ! Yet 
we can scarcely admit that, if we accept Strabo's 
dictum that the Etruscan invasion of Italy took 
place more than four hundred years before the 
Foundation of Rome. In truth, the relative antiquity 
of the various Cities in Etruria rests upon very 
slender foundations. One writer says, Cortona, 
another says, C^re was the most ancient. Another 
holds out for Tarquinii, a fourth writer for Veii. 
We really possess no historical data. The only in- 
ference that can be drawn, I think, is from a previous 
occupation by Umbrians or Pelasgians, and even then 
our dates are tremulous. 

' A replica is to be seen in the Etruscan Museum at Florence. 
That was found at Pomerance, near Volterra. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE NECROPOLIS AND THE TOMBS OF VOLTERRA 

The .chief Etruscan Necropolis hitherto discovered 
lies to the North of the City in the district now 
known as ** I Marmi." As has been mentioned, it 
would be ^.pproached from the Etruscan Gate, now 
occupied by "II Portone," or Porta di Diana. That 
gate is just beyond the modern Cemetery, which, 
in meritorious imitation of the old Race, also lies 
without the present Walls. And beyond the burial- 
place of to-day you come upon the site of primaeval 
sepulchres. The site only, buried now in wooded 
ravines. For the Tombs have long ago been closed, 
and nothing above ground is to be seen that could 
give a hint of the archaic wealth once stored beneath. 
These tombs have yielded up almost all the treasures 
of Volterran art which we have been admiring in 
the Museum. Yet, although there is nothing visible 
or tangible here, I think even the denuded sites 
where great or beautiful objects have been found 
are most suggestive. It stirs the mind something in 
the same way as the study of backgrounds of pictures 
by Albert Durer or Mantegna or Peter de Hoogh. 

It does not seem, however, that the Etruscan 
sepulchres were limited to one district only. Tombs 
have been discovered in many parts, always, of 
course, without the enceinte of their City. Near 

105 



106 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

S. Giusto> e.g. J in that part called the Guetruccia;, 
and, perhaps, some there are of an epoch preceding 
that of the Etruscans. Prehistoric, unornamented, 
and often of that type of which you see several 
instances in the Museum, known as " h. Pozzetto." 
A sort of large, long terra-cotta amphora, the mouth 
of which is closed by a slab of stone, and containing 
within 3, smaller jar with ashes of the deceased. 

Ancient and populous as Volterra was, the Tombs 
that have been discovered cannot be anything like 
in proportion to her population.' 

I imagine that the City — or rather the habitations 
of the dead — have been hitherto inadequately ex- 
plored. Of late years an apathy has prevailed here 
as to exploration. I suppose it is that the small 
landholders are always in fear that their crops 
or their copses are going to be endangered. Yet, 
even if archaeological enterprise be slack, the ** auri 
sacra fames " would never, one would suppose, 
require stimulating in Italy. 

It was certainly very insatiable in Etruria in the 
middle of the last Century. 

Large portions of the ancient Necropolis lie upon 
the Eastern side of the City, and it is precisely to 
the north of the Church of S. Girolamo and in the 
district Called the " Buche dei Saraceni " that we 
come upon the only two tombs now accessible to 
visits. These are known as the Inghirami Tombs, 
situated upon the property of that family and adjacent 
to the Villa of the name. They are fortunately 
under lock and key, and, though plunged in 

' It may be of interest here to glance at Tarquinia, although 
probably she had a far greater population than Volterra. The 
famous Avolta of Corneto was of opinion that the Necropolis of 
Tarquinia might be computed to extend over sixteen square miles, 
and that the tombs might be reckoned as two millions in number. 



NECROPOLIS AND TOMBS, VOLTEREA 107 

Cimmerian gloom, the gardener of the Villa, or other 
employ^, who will open them for you, will supply 
you with candles. They are excavated out of the 
tufa jrock on the side of a hill, and though un- 
decorated and not possessing any architectural dis- 
distinction, like those of Caere, e.g., deserve notice as 
instances of the Volterran type of tomb, and also for 
some of the contents which have been suffered to 
remain. 

The larger of the two has four small chambers 
without any decoration, and is still crammed with 
alabaster cinerary-urns ornamented in relief with the 
subjects now familiar to us drawn from Greek 
myth and legend. Paris taking refuge at the altar 
of .Venus?; Ulysses bound to the Mast ; and so forth. 
And, above all, the scene of the Porta all' Arco 
with the Battle of the Seven before Thebes, as re- 
peated in the urns in the Museum. The smaller 
tomb is supported by a column hewn out of the 
rock. The larger portion of the contents were 
carried off by the Government and placed in the 
Etruscan Museum at Florence. A few terra-cotta 
plates and dishes and vases have been allowed to 
remain here ; as also a heap of smashings, repre- 
sentative of works that were once artistic. These 
tombs were formerly surmounted by tumuli of earth, 
characteristic generally of the Volterran Tombs and 
of (the majority also of those of Tarquinia, and, in 
a lesser degree, of those of Caere. A replica of 
the larger of the two has been set up in the Court- 
yard of the Florence Etruscan Museum, as it existed 
when first discovered. The mysterious labyrinth of 
rocky caves, alluded to above as the '* Buche 
dei Saraceni," probably served the aborigines as 
dwelling-places or as tombs. But they have served 
no known purpose, ^nd have no associations of 



108 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

interest, certainly not with Saracens. Probably the 
name was given by ignorant folk who knew no better 
in the wild days,'' when a large part of Italy had 
Saracen on the brain. It may well have been that 
the Saracens, who were always harrying the 
Tyrrhenian Coast, and who had even struck terror 
into the Vatican itself, would have made a raid upon 
Populonia, the Volterran Port, and thence upon 
Volterra itself. But it was fully improbable that 
that people, so very susceptible to the comforts 
obtainable here below, would have put up in these 
caves, or have put up with rocks here or anywhere 
else. And there is nothing about these caves to 
attract a visitor. 

It may be that some of the smashings we have 
seen .are attributable to the Saracens. We know 
that works of art representing the human figure were 
always anathema to them. Yet one fancies that if 
they had ever come here, their smashings would 
have been on a more extensive scale. 

' It is; a matter of history that some of the barbarians 
after the fall of Rome plundered and devastated the 
sepulchres, which the Romans, with their respect for 
the dwellings of the dead, never did. Precious 
materials, gold and silver, were what the barbarians 
were after. And in mere wantonness or in dis- 
appointment they broke to pieces the things to which 
they attached no value. And in the last century, 
when exploration was a mania, the more modern 
inhabitants destroyed and pillaged from the same 
motives. Thus we cannot tax one race more than 
another with blind, ignorant, reckless destruction in 
their hunt for the precious metals. 

Before altogether leaving the subject of the Tombs 

' Populonia, nevertheless, — the Volterran Port — is said to have 
been sacked in the 9th Century by Saracens. 



NECROPOLIS AND TOMBS, VOLTERRA 109 

and their furiniture, let it be noted that the two Hfe- 
size sarcophagi which we have seen in the Museum 
were occupied by two of the Vlave family. This 
name was Romanised into Flavins, and the Gens 
Flavia, as we know, was one of the most distinguished 
in later times, and upon which " gens " Vespasian 
shed fresh lustre. Possibly that Emperor's ancestors 
were the occupants of the sarcophagi in question. 
iWe have already glanced at the ancestry of the 
Ceicnas, or Cecinas . Another great Etruscan family, 
some of whose urns have been found at Volterra, was 
that of Cracne, afterwards Romanised into Gracchus. 
It is curious how the ancient Etruscans neglected 
their stores of Alabaster. Except for their urns and 
the reliefs upon them they made no use of it. No 
vases or vessels of the material have been found, and 
at the present day the manufacture may be said to 
be the only source of wealth in the City. Quite 
half of the inhabitants are engaged in the works. 
One would have expected that the luxurious people of 
Etruria would have built themselves houses out pf 
the rich and easily-worked material. Or at least 
some of their Temples . We know that the Egyptians, 
to whom the Etruscans are erroneously said to owe so 
much, were lavish in their employment of Alabaster. 
The Temple of the Sphinx, e.g., and at Abydos, that 
of Rameses, are almost wholly of alabaster, and other 
Temples in Egypt possess massive blocks of it. And 
it may be mentioned here in connection with the 
non-employment of a material so available for 
purposes of building, how the Etruscans also 
neglected the stores of marble so close to them. At 
one period of their history at least, they were certainly 
in possession of Spezia (Luna) and of Pisa, and 
of the if^exhaustible supplies of the marble of Carrara 
in the neighbourhood. Yet we find no traces of their 



110 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

having ever availed themselves of marble for either 
Temples or dwelling-places. Indeed, excepting for 
some remains of Temples at Civita Castellana (and 
even those are attributed to the Argive settlers) — 
and some details in terra -cotta elsewhere, all sugges- 
tions even of the architecture of Etruscan temples and 
houses are wanting to us . I have sometimes thought, 
so elaborately worked are many of their Tombs, that 
these may be fac-similes of their habitations. I have 
been inclined to believe even that they dwelt in 
them. In such of them at least as were devoted to 
the cremated remains of their families, and perhaps 
even those where the entire bodies reposed. Or 
why those elaborate censors and fumigation-braziers 
and the powerful disinfectants which have been dis- 
covered in such tombs? Why, too, may we ask, the 
elaborate paintings, the artistic carvings in the 
spacious chambers? To what end the priceless vases 
of terra-cotta or of bronze, and above all the 
magnificence of gold ornaments and of jewels ? Were 
all such things heaped up in darkness and in 
gloom to do honour to sightless eyes and to crumbling 
forms ? Why should the Etruscans have built eternal 
habitations for the dead and so unsubstantially for 
their luxurious selves? 

These may be only conjectures, yet it is otherwise 
incomprehensible that all traces of any Etruscan 
dwelling-place should have so completely vanished. 
I do not suggest, of course, that the people generally 
made use of tombs as dwelling-places. They would 
have had no habitable tombs. They lived, no doubt, 
as other peasants in Italy. In wattle huts or in 
circular capanne. The hut -urns are models of their 
huts. 



CHARTER v. 

ROMAN, MEDIEVAL AND MODERN VOLTERRA 

VOLTERRA in its Etruscan aspect is so engrossing that 
it is possible that many visitors may have come here 
and not have found time to acquaint themselves 
with its many other attractions ; with the streets, the 
architecture, and the churches and palaces, and the 
works of art therein contained. Yet even the hurry- 
ing tourist will be impressed by the massive character 
of the buildings and the architectural beauty of many 
of the palaces. If he has been in Perugia, Siena, or 
yiterbo, he will find much of a similar character here, 
although not to a similar extent. But for grandeur 
of position and for natural beauties combined with 
what man has built, we may assign a high place to 
tVolterra. Old Italian Cities primarily shape them- 
selves ^nto two groups of buildings. There is the 
religious centre of the city-life; the Duomo, the 
Baptistery, and the Archiepiscopal buildings, and 
pften the Civic Hospital. The Duomo is the ex- 
pression of the history of the City in all its phases. 
It is a Museum' top of Art, where we find all that the 
sculptors aind the painters of the province have 
wrought rpund about the resting-places of those who 
bave been pre-eminent for g;ooci Qt for. evil in the 
history of the City, 

HI 



112 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

The second group of buildings is found in the 
Piazza where the Palazzo Communale, or Publico, or 
Municipale is seen to rear itself as the centre of the 
Civil life of the City. It has undergone a succession 
of metamorphoses. Hence the City has been 
governed or misgoverned. Here mobs have roared 
and tyrants have massacred, and here has pulsated 
the age-long fever of civic strife. Upon the same 
Piazza are also found the chief Palaces of the nobles, 
and often the Biblioteca and the University. (The 
two latter Institutions are elsewhere at Volterra.) 

But the Piazza del Duomo is a very peaceful spot 
here whatever animation may still be found round 
about the Palazzo Publico, (or " dei Priori ") and the 
Palazzo Pretorio. In this sacred precinct an almost 
senile drowsiness prevails. Even the customary 
mendicant who haunts church-doors is absent. The 
Piazza, being hemmed in by lofty buildings, is almost 
always in shade. The Cathedral was consecrated in 
1 1 20, but the building as we now see it, and the 
fagade especially, is to be attributed to Niccolo Pisano 
and is quite a hundred years later. It is a singularly 
small and low building as viewed from the Western 
front, and seems to be bodily " run into " the Palazzo 
dei Priori on the East, so that the Duomo appears 
to be part of the Palazzo or the Palazzo part of the 
Duomo. Although, as has been remarked, the great 
mass of the building is to be referred to the 13th 
Century and to the Pisan School, you have only to go 
round the building to observe upon the flanks thereof 
remains lof much earlier work, and which may be 
attributed to the loth Century. If you go into the 
Sacristy of the '* Misericordia," abutting on the 
Duomo, you will see a remarkable heavy gateway 
quaintly ornamented, beneath a ponderous architrave ; 
better still, when you visit the Palazzo dei Priori 



MEDIEVAL AND MODERN VOLTERRA 113 

you will be able to look down from one of its 
windows upon many arches and lunettes traceable to 
an earlier edifice of the loth Century. The Western 
door (too small to be effective) certainly does not 
prepare you for a really fine Romanesque interior of 
three naves and a transept. The walls are of the 
horizontal black-and-white stripes so familiar in 
Tuscany, and rest upon lofty Romanesque arches 
which are supported by a double row of massive 
columns. Leonardo Ricciarelli remodelled in the 
1 6th Century the capitals of the columns, and also 
adorned the roof of the side aisles, and in the same 
Century, Francesco Capriani imposed upon the nave 
the highly decorated ceiling " a cassettoni." Other- 
wise decoration has been sparingly introduced and the 
artists have been right. For in a " striped " Church 
such as this, the style forms it own ornamentation, 
and details of gilding and carving seem to clash with 
the broad and simple lines of the stone or marble 
walls. The fine pulpit is the chief work to arrest 
attention. It is much more recent work than that of 
the Pisan School although evidently modelled on that 
■style ; the reliefs, — four of them which have here 
been enclosed, — are very fine, and so ancient that they 
are attributed to an artist antecedent to Niccolo 
himself. The subjects of them are : the " Sacrifice 
of Abraham ''' ; the " Visitation " ; the " Annuncia- 
tion," with the name of each figure engraved upon 
them. The front relief represents the " Last Supper." 
The treatment of these reliefs is quite in accordance 
with classical tradition, but is already influenced by 
the new intensity of expression to which the Pisan 
Masters gave so much development later on. The 
Pulpit rests upon four columns supported by four 
lions, finely worked and also in the Pisan manner. 
Greatly to be admired are the two works of relief 

8 



114 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

placed upon the Western walls of the interior. They 
relate scenes from the life and death of two famous 
Saints of Volterran story, Santi Regolo and Ottaviano. 
Santi Vittorio, Giusto and Clemente are also intro- 
duced in bust form. They are considered to be 
14th Century work. Yet they might well, or most 
of .them might, (for they are not all of the sam,e 
date,) be attributed to an earlier date and to have 
been brought from an earlier building. The author- 
ship of any of them is unknown. Sant Ottaviano, in 
the Chapel dedicated to him, rests in a superb marble 
sarcophagus executed by Raffaelle Cioli in 1525. 
It is decorated with a frieze of cherubin, and has an 
angel at either end by Andrea Ferrucci. It is the 
finest specimen of Renaissance work in the Cathedral. 
The people of Volterra subscribed for it in gratitude 
for the intercession of the Saint whose prayers had 
delivered them from the plague of 1522. An inscrip- 
tion borne by two angels records the fact on the 
centre of the sarcophagus. 

A remarkable terra-cotta half -figure of St. Lino 
is to be seen upon the wall of the right aisle. He; 
wears the papal tiara, for tradition has handed down 
this Volterran saint as the successor of St. Peter. 
Rarely have the Delia Robbias thrown so much ex- 
quisite expression into the countenance of a Saint. 
It is generally assigned to Giovanni d. R. Another 
work of terra-cotta, though not of the Delia Robbia, 
is to be found in the Chapel of the Madonna. It is 
a " Presepio " and probably by a Florentine Master 
and rests upon a background painted by B. Gozzuoli. 

Upon either side of the High Altar is a spiral 
column of great beauty surmounted by a kneeling 
angel, each of them by Mino da Fiesole and remark- 
able instances of his artistic worth. Of this dis- 
tinguished artist we shall find later on a consummate 
work in the Baptistery. 



MEDIEVAL AND MODERN VOLTERRA 115 

Entering now the Coro the admirer of wood- 
carving of the early 1 5th Century will not fail 
to observe the rich work of the stalls, the reading 
desk, and especially of the archivescoval throne. A 
throne indeed worthy to be occupied by San Lino 
himself I In the Sacristy also the carved double 
arches and the Baldachino are very much to be 
admired, and seem to be of the same date and by the 
same artists as those of the Coro. Not, however, the 
huge and elaborately worked " armadio " — (the word 
" cupboard " sounds flippant when applied to so vast 
a piece of ornamentation) . It is supported by carved 
columns, and upon the front is decorated with eight 
panels of cherubim. It is surmounted by one of 
those "divided" pediments — dear to the 17th Cen- 
tury artists — and again completed by the addition 
of further carvings inserted between the broken pedi- 
ment. It is, as has been said, of a much later 
period than the Gothic ornamentation around. It 
might almost be termed " baroque," but it is very 
splendid. And it is strong as it is splendid. And it 
needs be a " safe," for within is housed the Cathedral- 
treasure, of gold and silver chalices and reliquaries, 
and some of them the work of native artists. It 
would be a work of supererogation to describe them 
for they are rarely to be seen. 

Many of the pictures that were formerly in the 
Cathedral have been removed to the recently formed 
Gallery of Paintings in the Palazzo dei Priori. Some 
remain here still, in many instances of great merit. 
I shall briefly allude to some of the best. 

In the Gherardi Chapel, an " Annunciation " attri- 
buted to Mariotto Albertinelli, although from an in- 
scription at the back of it signed " Bartolemeo " 
(Mariotto's Master) it would seem' that a portion 
of the picture at leajst was from his hand. And 



116 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

that view would appear to be supported by a design 
of this Angel preserved in the Uffizi, being the work 
of that Bartolomeo. In any case he was the master 
of Mariotto. Once upon a time the work used to be 
attributed to Domenico Ghirlandajo. The " Assump- 
tion of the Virgin " is by II Volterrano (Baldassare 
Franceschini) a fine work and certainly the finest 
from his brush that I know. Adam and Eve are in 
the foreground and upon each side are Saints, amongst 
whom St. Peter is pre-eminent. For dignity of style, 
another fine picture is the ** Raising of Lazarus," by 
Santi di Tito. I was also much impressed by a 
"Presentation in the Temple" by G. B. Naldini. 
He was a Florentine artist late in the i6th Century. 
His works are scarce. If he is not to be counted 
amongst artists of the highest rank, he must be 
allowed, as this work suggests, a high place amongst 
those of the second. A " Conversion of St. Paul " 
attracts you because it is by Domenichino. But time 
or neglect has made it very dark. 

In quitting the Cathedral there is one humble but 
suggestive slab to be glanced at ; one which in this 
Etruscan City evokes immemorial associations. The 
epitaph records the death in 1765 of Bishop Cecina, 
the last of the Etruscan family of Cecina. By his 
extinction was quenched the last spark of an illustrious 
family that had flourished in Volterra for certainly two 
thousand years. He should have at least been in- 
terred in an Etruscan sarcophagus ! The last of the 
Cecinas I And yet who can pronounce with certainty 
that no Cecina may yet be lurking in some sequestered 
spot in Volterra — in vale or fastness? It seems so 
improbable that prehistoric blood such as that of 
the Cecinas should have run out. And who knows? 
The ashes of a stock supposed extinct have before 
now been suddenly relumed. A few years ago at 



MEDIEVAL AND MODERN VOLTERRA 117 

Florence in the Church of the Ogni Santi the frescoes 
by Ghirlandajo of the Vespucci family (Amerigo in- 
cluded) came to light, having been concealed for 
years beneath the plaster. The family was declared 
to be extinct. The Municipality said so, and in Italy 
the arbitration of the Municipality in all things is 
final. Yet a lady started out of the obscurity, and 
claimed to be a Vespucci. I forget whether she were 
an Italian or an American. She might have been 
either. I fprget, too, whether her claim was allowed. 
Yet as regards the Etruscan family, so long as that 
river which has aroused so many Etruscan associa- 
tions continues to flow in the Valley below, there 
will always be a Cecina at Volterra. 



CHAPTER' VI 

THE BAPTISTERY AND THE VESCOVADO AT 
VOLTERRA 

The Baptistery is only a few paces outside the .West 
door of the Cathedral. It is a small, rather uncouth 
hexagon of panchina relieved by a front of striped 
black-and-white marble. It does not impress you 
much if you have already seen Pisa, Florence, Siena, 
and Pistoia. Yet it has a forlorn air of detachment 
about it, that seems to appeal to your sympathy if 
it does not evoke the admiration called forth by the 
Baptisteries of the above-mentioned Cities. It is 
curious how almost all the Baptisteries of Italy are 
said to occupy the sites of heathen Temples. So 
far as this Baptistery is concerned the tradition that 
it occupies the place of a Temple of the Sun has no 
foundation. The architrave bears an inscription in 
very old characters, — if you have patience to decipher 
them, to the effect that the building was erected in 
the 13th Century. The entrance-arch beneath 
the black-and-white striped fagade is of curious 
ornamentation, and the same may be said of the 
capitals of the supporting columns which are pro- 
fusely carved with representations of animals and 
birds. Upon each hexagon there are two slits of 
the narrowest Norman windows, so that the interior, 

U8 



BAPTISTERY AND VESCOVADO 119 

which can boast of considerable treasures of art, 
is teligiously dim. The three fine works of the 
Renaissance placed within are enhanced by the bald- 
ness of the walls. You are confronted by the magni- 
ficent arched niche in which the High Altar is 
placed. Arch, frieze and columns are splendidly 
decorated with carvings by the chisel of the Brothers 
Balsimelli of Settignano. Over the High Altar the 
arch enshrines a fine " Ascension " by Nicolo Cer- 
cignani, a Volterran artist, yet not sufficiently valu- 
able to have justified the renioval of a portion of the 
cornice of the arch in order to fit the picture in. 
The Baptismal Font of Sansovino (Andrea di Niccolo 
Contucci — a commission entrusted to that sculptor 
in 1502) and the fine panels thereof deserve more 
than a' passing glance. The third work of Sculpture 
here is the Tabernacle or Ciborium by Mino da 
Fiesole. It formerly was in the Cathedral but was 
placed here in the last Century. It is remarkable, 
though not surprising, considering the propinquity of 
Florence, how many works there are in Volterra of 
the Settignano and Fiesole schools. It may be noticed 
as an instance of the great neglectfulness of the 
Volterrans in the custody of their works of art, that 
this Baptistery was without a cupola until the year 
1506. For some years it had no covering even. It 
is not a matter of surprise, therefore, that the building 
and its contents suffered many things from the 
vagaries of the elements. The great Arch of the 
Settignano Brothers especially so. It was fortunate 
that the picture of the " Ascension " was not here 
before the arrival of the Cupola. 

It is just worth while, the Vescovado being almost 
a portion of the Cathedral, to visit it. 

The Pisanesque group over the entrance gives it 
at least a dignity wanting to the rest of the Building. 



120 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Yet for the sake of a singularly picturesque glimpse 
of mediaeval architecture one should make one's way 
into the old brick cloister with a delightful garden 
around. And you can look up hence at a varied 
group of buildings, the Campanile of the Cathedral, — 
the Tower of the Palazzo dei Priori and the Archivio 
Capitale, and upon the venerable flank of the older 
Cathedral alluded to above. The Archivio Capitale 
is said to be rich in, old and precious documents 
relating to civil and religious Volterra. I had not 
time to verify the rumour. 



CHAPTER yil 

THE PALAZZO DEI PRIORI ^MUNICIPIO), THE PALAZZO 
PRETORIO,, THE PIAZZA MAGGIORE AT VOLTERRA 

Having seen the group of ecclesiastical buildings, — 
the religious centre of Volterra, — the Civil centre can 
easily be reached. For, as has already beein; men- 
tioned, the Palazzo dei Priori almost constitutes the 
Eastern back of the Cathedral. 

The Palazzo dei Priori (I shall continue to mention 
it by its historic appellation) — indifferently styled 
" del Commune," " del Municipio " — is said to have 
been completed in the year 1257 and was the head- 
quarters of an often-changing governmient and of the 
chief Magistrate in all such vicissitudes. It is a fine 
specimen of the 13th Century, and if less imposing 
than many of similar character in larger Cities in 
Italy, has m;any claims to the study and admiration 
of the traveller. It has chronicles, — if not sermons in 
its stones for those who desire to learn. It is still 
an imposing Building notwithstanding the many re- 
pairs and reconstruction of parts that it has under- 
gone. For it has suffered in many ways, from the 
earthquake of 1826 especially. 

The Tower in fact, which was then wrecked, has 

been so successfully restored in its old form that you 

would not suppose that it had been at all injured. 

The Norman windows are handsome and not too 

121 



122 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

ftittmerous . The exterior is studded by. the armorial 
bearings, some in coloured terra-cotta, of those who 
were eminent in their day, and by many an iron 
torch-holder and banner-holder, and by the names 
of the Florentine Commissioners too (not a pleasing 
reminiscence for Volterra), surmounted again by 
heraldic devices, surrounded by wreaths of fruits and 
flowers. The Marzocco or Florentine Lion, at each 
corner of the external basement again, are not calcu- 
lated to evoke cordial feelings from a conquered City. 
The chief interest of the Palazzo dei Priori at present 
is a notable collection of paintings which have been 
gathered together out of the Cathedral and the 
Churches of the City. The Volterrans of the 15th 
and 1 6th Centuries, evidently like their Etruscan 
forefathers, were considerable connoisseurs. It is also 
evident that Volterra, — unlike the Etruscans, — has not 
been vigilant in safe-guarding her acquisitions. In 
many instances she has neglected them until rust 
and the moth and the damp and other forces inimical 
to human productions have wreaked their worst upon 
them, and their hasty restorations have completed 
their disfigurement. 

Upon your way to see the Pictures of the Palazzo 
upstairs there is a fresco of St. Jerome dated 1 490-1. 
It has no special merit, and resembles very much 
the hundred other St. Jeromes you have seen, and 
seems to be the work of some Florentine. Still, lively 
in colour it brightens up the sad-coloured walls. A 
little higher up we come across a " Crucifixion." In 
a room adjacent are two frescoes of Pier Francesco. 
In the Sala del Consiglio is a very large mural 
painting of the " Annunciation and Saints." It has 
been attributed to Jacopo di Clone Orcagna and to 
Pietro Lamberti. But in so many ways it has been 
damaged that whatever effect it had once, it im- 



THE PALAZZO DEI PRIORI 123 

presses you but little. There is near to it a picture 
of very great merit, rich in colour and full of anima- 
tion. A " Marriage in Cana of Galilee," by Donato 
Mascagni, a Florentine of the 17th Century. 

When writing above of the negligence of the 
Volterrain^ in the custody of their pictures, I wjas 
thinking especially of the two fine works by Luca 
Siglnorelli in this apartment. One is of the Virgin 
with six Saints around her and two seated figures 
in; the foreground ; one head of the latter is com- 
pletely obliterated rendering identification impossible. 
The second is an *' Annunciation." The scene takes 
place in front of one of those decorative Renaissance - 
temples in which Signorelli delights. The restorer 
of this picture, — a very recent one — Cigna by name, 
as late as 1831, has been honest enough to have left 
a written declaration that he undertook the restoration 
"offended by the miserable stains upon it, and by 
the effects of a thunderbolt I " 

These pictures, painted with all the power p.nd 
masterful resource with which Signorelli was so 
abundantly endowed, though ruins, are splendid ones. 

The picture first noticed came from the Church 
of S. Francesco. The " Annunciation " from the 
Cathedral. It will be pleasing" to an admirer of the 
School of Siena to see here so many works of Sienese 
Masters. Pre-eminent is a singularly beautiful Ben- 
venuto di Giovanni, the " Adoring Shepherds around 
the Virgin and Child," with beautiful predellas of 
scenes in the Life of the Virgin. 

A fine triptych by Taddeo da Bartolo, and near this 
other works of his or of his followers. Of Baldassare 
Franceschini (II Volterrano) there is a fine instance, 
*' The Virgin and Saints," in which the figure of 
St. Francis is remarkably beautiful, Domenico Ghir- 
landajo is well represented by the " Redeemer in 



124 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Glory," with Saints Benedict and Romtialdo, and in 
the foreground Saints Altinia and Greciniana, iboth 
of Volterran religious celebrity. This picture was 
saved from the collapse when the Badia of San 
Salvatore was wrecked by the landslip some fifteen 
years since. Neri di Bicci, a " Saint Sebastian be- 
tween Saints Bartholomew and Nicola di Bari," upon 
panel. An inscription beneath gives the date March, 
1476. Perhaps the picture by Leonardo da Pistoja 
of a Madonna and Saints, of all the works here, will 
be the most admired, and the more so, in that it has 
escaped both damage and restoration. The Infant is 
of infinite sweetness, as are also those of two 
Cherubim in the foreground. The four Saints are 
masterpieces . The two upon the left of the Madonna, 
especially. 

Volterra, with her somewhat fitful appreciation: of 
art, and although claiming names of distinct mark 
amongst her painters and sculptors, can in no way 
be regarded as having originated a school. I suppose 
Daniele Ricciarelli to be her most distinguished 
artist ; — certainly his fame is known throughout the 
world by his great picture of the *' Deposition; frorn 
the Cross," in the Convent Church of the Trinitk at 
Rome. Pomerancio (Rancalli) and Franceschini (II 
Volterrano) have already been noted as other lights. 
A Francesco of Volterra seems to have been the 
earliest artist of any mark. Vasari calls him 
Francesco di Maestro Giotto. There is no specimen 
of his talent in Volterra, but at Pisa in a fresco of 
" Job " in the Campo Santo he is said to have acquired 
some reputation. And another painter, a Jacopo di 
Francesco, — sonletimes styled of Rome and sometimes 
of Volterra, is mentioned as having been of the 
earliest. We may add to the names of Rancalli, 
Ricciarelli and Franceschini, those of Annibale 



THE PALAZZO DEI PRIORI 125 

Nicola j, M. A. Gourgoncini, Camillo Incoutri. 
Pomerance is so near to the City that besides 
Rancalli, Nicola and Antonio Circigniani may fairly 
be included as Volterrans. 

The Palazzo dei Priori is faced on the East by 
another Palace, a portion of which is arcaded, known 
as the Palazzo Pretorio. It is surmounted by a Tower, 
called the Torre della Piazza, and has three rows 
of Gothic windows. In this Palace are established 
the Tribunals, the Prettura, and the Sottoprefetture. 
The third side of the Piazza houses the inevitable 
Monte Pio and the Cassa di Risparmio, and occupies 
the site of sorrie old palaces . 

Nothing of any note is to be seen in the Palazzo 
Pretorio nor in the more modern buildings. What- 
ever animation is to be observed, however, in 
Volterra is to be found in this Piazza. Upon la 
market day the Piazza is cheerful and gay and bright 
with colour. Huge baskets and long stalls crammed 
with fruit and vegetables are presided over by chatter- 
ing women — all wearing a grey or white wide-awake 
hat, which is the traditional female head-gear in 
Volterra. They are a civil-spoken lot, all the 
Volterrans, both men and women, respectful and self- 
respecting. 

You have the sam'e difficulty, however, in; coping 
with the Tuscan dialect here as you have had at 
Florence and Siena and in other parts of Tuscany. 
We know, or we think we know, that the Etruscan 
dialect was unmercifully aspirated in every other 
letter of their sixteen. Here it seems to me that the 
Volterrans are even more aspirating, — shall I say 
exasperating? But they may aspirate as much as 
they like— -so long as they do not beg. And for an 
Italian town Volterra is quite comfortably exempt 
from mendicants. You may discern from the Piazza, 



126 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

— you certainly will be able to do so with a p3.ir 
of glasses, perched high upon the Tower of the 
Piazza a strangely barbarous stone creature. Why 
there I know not. It has been called a rat, a pig, 
a wild boar. I thought it to be a badger. In its 
extreme old age it has finally received the appella- 
tion of II Porcellino or " little pig." A true son of 
Volterra would call it II Porhellino. 

Volterra, as we see her to-day, may be considered 
generally to be of her Communal epoch, very much 
in fact what she has been for centuries. That 
arrangement has not been altered ; no modern in- 
novators have been here to substitute new piazzas for 
old ones, and with their regularities and rectangu- 
larities to " improve " out of all recognition the 
mediaeval irregularities so dear to the tourist's soul. 
So that you can still wander about Volterra unvexed 
by municipal manias or asdilic-megalomanias. 
Neither has it been thought incumbent to erect tower- 
ing factories for the needs of the alabaster workmen, 
numerous as they are — something like two-thirds of 
the inhabitants. These are generally established in 
old, unaltered, and now superfluous palaces. The 
vaulted chambers and deep alcoves which have been 
occupied by the workmen are often fine and always 
picturesque. All the streets, too, leading to the 
numerous gates of the City, reek with mediaevalism. 
And each Gate is a picture. 

I will very briefly point out a few of the salient 
features observable in some of the houses. The Case 
Torri-Buonparenti and Buonaguidi, joined by a lofty 
arch, beneath which the street passes, form a grand 
group. Quite worthy this of Perugia, and a fine 
instance of the ability of the Volterran architects in 
domestic architecture ; if domestic it can be called 
where defence if not defiance has clearly been the 



THE PALAZZO DEI PRIORI 127 

predominant principle. Yet considerations purely 
domestic have often been present, as evinced in 
certain tiny windows, sometimes with iron gratings, 
sometimes without. These were the nursery windows, 
so small that infants could occupy them without 
danger of falling out. Instances of these may be 
found in the Case Collarini and Miranceli in the 
Via Guidi, and in the Palace Pilastri-Borgiotti. 

Another feature in the streets is the abundance of 
the carved " sigle " of " Jesus " and " Maria " placed 
over the doors. These are often of alabaster. Other 
noteworthy old Palaces are those of the towered 
Allegretti (now Guidi) and Caffarecci (now Bran- 
cacci). The latter near the most beautiful church 
door in Volterra, that of San Michele. 

The Palaces of Inghirami, Ruggieri (now Maffei) 
and Viti, or Incontri, are amongst other notable houses 
in Volterra. The last is partly occupied by the 
modern Theatre upon which the Volterrans have con- 
ferred the name of Persius Flaccus, for that Poet was 
certainly born in Volterra, although he seems to have 
passed all his life in Romje. I do not think that he 
has ever referred to his birthplace in his writings. 
V^e can, however, understand that the Volterrans 
should be proud of him as the only Roman name 
honourajbly connected with the City. 

The Casa Ricciarelli will, of course, be visited not 
only for its own sake as being still in the possession 
of the family, but for the pictures (still there) by 
their celebrated ancestor. The present representa- 
tives of the family are most amiable and courteous in 
permitting strangers to enter. Daniele's chief picture 
here is one of Elijah lying upon the ground with a 
gourd and a cruise by him and in a pretty landscape 
most notably un -Eastern. Although small it is a 
masterly work. His other picture is a Madonna with 



128 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

the Infant and St. John. But Daniele's fresco, "La 
Guistizia," in the Pinacoteka at the Palazzo dei 
Priori, is much the best instance of the painter's 
ability. Though much damaged — (in Volterra, " ca 
va sans dire ! ") it is quite in the grand style. A 
Sodoma is also here, a " Marriage of St. Catherine." 
It is undoubtedly his, but not one of his best pro- 
ductions. One or two other pictures by Daniele 
Ricciarelli are to be seen in the Palazzo Inghirami. 
I think no work of sculpture by him is to be seen in 
Volterra. The only work of his I can recall, in that 
branch of art, is a bust of Michael Angelo at 
Florence. 

Leonardo Ricciarelli who executed the finely carved 
aiid richly decorated work of the aisle -roofs in the 
Cathedral was a nephew of Daniele. 

A fine massive house in the Palazzo Inghirami. The 
proprietor belongs to an old and famous Volterran 
family, and the Etruscan Tombs — already described, 
are situated on his property. He is of that family 
to which Fedra Inghirami, the immortalised subject 
of Raphael's picture in the Pitti Gallery — belonged. 
Every one who has been to Florence remembers 
that superb portrait of the Secretary to the Conclave, 
with his eyes cast up as though he were inspired. 
A replica of that famous picture remained here in 
this ancestral house from Fedra's times to a year or 
two ago. I believed it still here, and besieged the 
Palace somewhat too persistently. I learned my 
error before I had gained a suffragette -character 
for ringing bells. I found that it had recently gone 
to Boston ; had been, in fact, sold to an American. 

Alas ! for the " res angusta domi." I don't think 
that I could have parted with an ancestor, — even if 
he had not been by Raphael. Like Charles Surface, 
I icould have jogged along somehow. But to part 
with Uncle Noll, never ! 



THE PALAZZO DEI PKIORI 129 

Upon many of the house-walls are to be seen 
stone brackets, seeming to serve no particular 
purpose. In many cases these supported balconies, — 
now removed, yet in many instances they were merely, 
props for beams and boards for masons and builders 
in their works of repair. The object of the rings 
and hooks observable above and beneath the windows 
suggests the insertion in the former, of flag-poles, 
and of fastening on the hooks draperies and curtains, 
or even of drying the household linen. Such small 
details are not peculiar to Volterra. They are 
common to most old Italian houses. The Churches 
generally, of Volterra, do not demand any great atten- 
tion. There are certainly two that should be visited, 
not for lany extraordinary architectural merits, but 
for the fine things they contain. Saii Girolamo, 
eJg., outside the City walls, is ** de rigueur." It is 
a: pleasant stroll also from' out the Porta S Selci 
down the hill to the East. The Porta a Selci is 
the gate that opens upon the great Fortress, — and 
one that you will have visited to see the fine blocks 
of Etruscan masonry which are so conspicuous in 
this part of the enceinte. The arched Colonnade 
in front of the Church seems to have been an after- 
thought. It probably was added to enshrine two 
fine iworks: of Giovanni della Robbia. One is of 
the ** Last Judgment," the other, represents St. 
Francis consigning the rules of the Order to St. Louis 
and to his beloved disciple Santa Chiara. The lai'ge 
picture ,upon the right of the High Altar, " The 
Madonna and Infant," with a large Com^pany of 
Saints, is attributed to Domenico Ghirlandajo. 
Corrado Ricci, however, considers it a; work of 
Zanobi. Crowe and Cavalcasetti attribute it to 
Giusto di Andrea, a pupil of Neri di Bicci. It is 
a fine work, whoever be the artist. More precious, 

9 



130 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

however, and, indeed, the particular gem of all the 
pictures in Volterra, is the picture opposite. It is 
by that pride of the Sienese school, Benvenuto di 
Giovanni, and represents the " Annunciation." The 
Virgin, awed yet serene, holy and calm, and with a 
remarkably long neck, is girdled about by heads of 
cherubim. A vase of lilies (the Virgin's flowers) 
stands between her and the Announcing Angel, 
Gabriel. San Michele, in full armour, transfixing 
a dragon, so gently, as it were, inadvertently, is just 
behind Gabriel. A very fair St. Catherine of 
Alexandria stands very erect behind the Virgin, and 
has her shattered wheel at her feet. The Almighty, 
surrounded with Cherubim, contemplates from above. 
And, finally, the donor of the picture in the midst 
of the inscription, " Benvenuto Joannis, 1466," is 
below in profile. It is a lovely vision. 

The Franciscan who went round with me informed 
me that San Bernardino brought this picture with 
him from Siena in order to present it to this Church. 
That must heighten the interest of this beautiful 
picture for all who come here. 

No apology can be needed for the introduction 
of St. Francis in the Delia Robbias and in the large 
panel of the Madonna and Saints mentioned above. 
The /explanation is that the Church was formerly 
dedicated to the Saint, and that there was here a 
confraternity of St. Francis (and still is), though 
upon a much smaller scale. 

The present Church of St. Francis is celebrated 
for the Gothic Chapel dedicated to the Holy Cross, 
and for the frescoes commemorative of the famous 
Legend. Damp and neglect and then abundant 
restoration have played havoc with the original 
painting. Gianni di Francesco di San Gianni da 
Firenze, who has left inscribed a portion of that 



THE PALAZZO DEI PRIORI 131 

portentously long signature, with the date of 1410 
upon one of the frestoes, has been supposed to have 
been a pupil of Agnolo Gaddi, who himself painted 
a series of the same subject in a chapel of the Santa 
Croce at Florence. Some writers have been of 
opinion that the Volterra frescoes are free copies of 
the Florentine ones. Be that as it may, these 
frescoes, despite the plentiful reparation and the vivid 
modern colouring, form a remarkable illustration of 
early i 5th religious art, and also of the costumes of 
that period. 

Jacopo da Firenze (14 10) has a share in the 
decoration of the Vaults and the Lunettes of the 
Chapel. It is not claimed for him to have illustrated 
any portion of the frescoes upon the Walls. Work 
of this kind is very scarce in Volterra, in fact this 
Chapel is unique. 

The modern Church of San Giusto, a heavy and 
bare edifice of the i6th Century, is scarcely worth 
visiting for its own sake, yet it contains one or two 
paintings not devoid of merit. A Martyrdom of 
Saint Catherine, for instance, authorship unknown. 
It is rather for the platform or terrace without the 
church ,that I should counsel a visit to be made 
there. Here stands a row of rude mediaeval statues, 
placed upon antique columns, of Saints Lino, Agostino, 
Clemente, and Giusto. These statues give a character 
and a dignity to this quaint terrace, while the whole 
sicene commanded by it is of romantic beauty and 
interest. Certainly one of the most characteristic 
in Volterra. It could be wished, however, that, after 
the first Church of San Giusto had been swallowed 
up in the fatal Baize, the second Church had not 
been erected in a position still so perilously near to 
the tscene of the disaster. For scanty remains re- 
covered from the ruins of the old Church we must 
go to the Museum. There, an ancient cornice and 



132 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

three or four arches of a slightly later date will 
give us an idea that the Church must have possessed 
much that was valuable of an extremely early period. 
A part of a frieze, e.g., representing our Saviour 
between Saints Peter and Paul and flanked by 
cinerary urns, sacred to Saint Giusto and Clement e, 
and in which the ashes of those Saints probably 
rested, forms the, rudest and oldest relic of mediaeval 
art that is to be seen in Volterra, — and quite 
suggestive of Etruscan influence. 

The Roman occupation of Volterra endured from 
her complete subjection by Sylla until the downfall 
of the Roman Empire, and as she had been previously 
reduced by Fabius and Scipio, it is strange that we 
should meet with so very few outward signs of the 
Roman occupation. The Piscina, a massive build- 
ing, and still in excellent preservation, must be 
attributed to Roman times . For its style of masonry 
is quite in the Roman manner. A vaulted roof, 
supported by three naves of squared, even-laid 
blocks, with high and spacious openings between the 
columns. Remains of an amphitheatre, too, near 
the Porta Florentina, would seem to prove that the 
Romans settled down here for no transitory stay. 
There are traces of baths, some of the ornamental 
details of which are preserved in the Museum. 
Another evidence of Roman work — a very slight one, 
is the mutilated statue of one Prato-Marzio (Prete 
Marzi, as the people call it). It is passed on one's 
way to the San Giusto suburb. An arch near the 
Fonte S. Felice is also attributed to Roman times. 
Also the Roman work about and above the Porta 
air Arco. These few remains are all, I think, that 
we can connect with the Roman occupation of 
Volterra. The Roman rendering of Etruscan names 
upon certain cinerary urns in" the Museum have been 
alluded to. 



CHAPTER VIII 

NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF VOLTERRA AFTER THE 
ROMAN PERIOD 

We know nothing authentic of Volterra after the 
fall iof Rome for many years. She seems to have 
sunk into utter insignificance, and, perhaps, into ruin. 

When she once, more returns into the partial light 
of history, it is as a; sort of shuttlecock. Flung 
about by the shadowy hands of those who exer- 
cised an ephemeral supremacy in Italy. By Gallia 
Placida, Odoacer, Theodoric, Justinian, and, finally, 
by the Lombards. Annexed, subjugated, occu- 
pied by every one in turn, and with no history 
of her own, she could scarcely have known who 
or what she was, or by what name she was to 
be distinguished. At length, rather by the ex- 
haustion of others than by any rejuvenescence of 
her own, she found a breathing moment wherein to 
recognise the dominion of Charlemagne. It seems 
that she was possessed of some small power of 
initiative at this moment, fot she was the first among 
Italian Cities to do so. 

As matters turned out, however, her 'choice, — if 
she had any choice in the affair, did not prove very 
fortunate. Volterra was never fortunate. For upon 
Charlemaglne's death, the gr^at Empire which he had 

133 



134 IN ANCIENT ETRUEIA 

got together fell into the hands of many claimants 
and pretenders to his power. And Volterra for many 
years to come thenceforward was to be at the mercy 
of Saxon and Suabian Emperors, and to be governed 
by such representatives as those Rulers thought fit 
to send her. That Volterra must have been con- 
verted to Christianity in very early times is proved 
by St. Lino having been the first recorded saint in 
her history. Tradition asserts that St. Lino suc- 
ceeded St. Peter in the Papal Chair about the year 
67 A. D. It is in the connection of Volterra with 
Christianity that one of the most picturesque episodes 
in her history took place. It was, further, a 
momentous event that seems to have been of con- 
siderable effect upon her religious development. 

It was early in the 6th Century that Volterra found 
herself hotly besieged by some of those ubiquitous 
barbarians, to whom in those enterprising times the 
aspect of a City set upon a hill immediately suggested 
plunder and assault. At the very moment when the 
City was most hotly pressed from without, and that 
famine within her walls was urging her to surrender, 
a small and quite unwarlike brotherhood of holy men 
suddenly a.rriving from Africa happen to land at 
Populonia, the ancient Port of Volterra. This ap- 
parently trivial event was destined not only to save 
Volterra from the fate which seemed to await her, 
but also largely to influence the course of her after- 
existence. 

The immediate cause of the timely arrival of this 
band of Christians upon the shores of the Tyrrhenian 
Sea may be very briefly related. Thrasimundus, one 
of the Vandal Sovereigns of Africa, had come into 
conflict with some of his Bishops and Priests upon 
the subject of the Arian schism. These men found 
themselves unable to accept the faith as promul- 



HISTORY OF VOLTERRA 135 

gated by the Arian Rulef. The names of these men 
were Bishop Regulus, two of his chief followers 
(Cerbona and Felice), two priests (Giusto and 
Clemente), and a devoted layman (Ottaviano). 
Most pf these names have become famous in the 
religious annals of Volterra. They were all banished 
from Africa as contumacious heretics, and com- 
manded to leave Africa forthwith. Making common 
cause together they set sail for Sardinia, A severe 
tempest arising during their voyage interfered with 
their journey thither and drove them far out of their 
course, and finally, as the winds would have it so, 
they found themselves one day smoothly gliding into 
the placid waters of the little Port of Populonia. 
Scarcely had they landed when they were informed 
that Volterra, the famous City of Saint Lino (and 
but a few hours distant from the Port) was in 
imminent danger of falling into the hands of a pagan 
horde. Here was an opportunity, it seemed to them, 
of succouring a Christian City in dire distress, and 
also, perhaps, of converting a heathen rabble. 

These holy men were not slow to avail them- 
selves of thus distinguishing themselves. Saints 
Giusto, Clemente, and Ottaviano at once get forth 
upon their pious enterprise, whilst Regulus and his 
disciples decided to remain for the present at 
Populonia. 

Notwithstanding the close investment of the City, 
the Saints seem to have found themselves unhindered 
by the besiegers in their attempt to enter Volterra. 
Men, without weapons as they were, might have been 
considered as too insignificant to arouse suspicion 
even. Once within the walls, they appear to have 
reanimated the citizens by their courage, and to have 
astonished them by their miraculous powers. For 
the exhausted granaries were miraculously re- 



136 IN ANCIENT ETRUEIA 

plenished, ,and stores of food multiplied themselves 
throughout the City^ It was the besieging Force 
now that was to experience the pangs of hunger. 
Goaded ojiwards, then, by the fear of famine, Jhe 
besiegers made one supreme effort to capture the 
City. As they advanced to the attack their progress 
was ichecked, not by any counter-attack proceeding 
from the town, but by the unwonted appearance of 
the fields they were occupying. The ground was 
thickly strewn with loaves of bread. A shower of 
manna could not have surprised them more. Suspect- 
ing some artifice, or fearing some magical devices 
to be concealed beneath this show of plenty, at first 
they hesitated to avail themselves. But at length 
the temptation to eat proved stronger than their 
suspicions. And yet, further, as they approached the 
battlements, a torrent, not of arrows, but of loaves, 
rained upon them from the walls. Of what avail, 
they thought, to attempt the capture of a City mani- 
festly protected by the Invisible Powers? How 
could they hope to prevail in a contest with such 
odds against them? So reasoned the barbarians, 
and, without waiting for the chance of further 
miraculous provisions, they incontinently fled from 
.Volterra to pillage some other less impregnable 
stronghold. 

Volterra thus delivered, St. Ottaviano took leave 
of his companions, and went off to devote himself 
to the life of a hermit in the vicinity. St. Clemente 
remained, and, yielding to the entreaties of the 
Citizens, consented, in 530 A.D., to become their 
Bishop. And here he remained, they say, for thirty 
years fully occupied, now in crushing rebellion, now 
preaching, now proselytizing. Yet he found time 
to be mindful of his old associates and to visit 
them. He waa accustomed to withdraw himself to 



HISTORY OF VOLTERRA 137 

a grotto close to that of his saintly, brother St. 
Ottaviano, where he could, like him, reinvigorate 
his moral forces by solitude, privations, and prayer. 
It was in this grotto, indeed, that he passed away, 
upon the same hour of the very same day on which 
St. Ottaviano also drew his latest breath. 

Thus much the legend. The reader will accept 
as much or as little of the miraculous element, 
according to the measure of faith that is in him. 
The substance of the story there is no reason to 
doubt. And Volterra has continued to this day to 
cherish the memories of all these Saints who had 
come from Africa not only to minister to her 
necessities, but to defeat her enemies. 

Volterra's later experiences of bishops were to 
be not at all in consonance with those of her earlier 
times. A large part of her mediaeval history, indeed, 
is taken up with struggles with these ecclesiastical 
viceroys, as they in reality were, of the Saxon and 
Suabian Emperors. These Bishops became the real 
governors of the Volterran district, and had quite 
usurped the functions of some shadowy counts who 
had preceded them and who still claimed some share 
in the government of the City, until they were 
altogether abolished by the Emperor Henry II. 

Frederick Barbarossa still further consolidated the 
power of these Viceroy -Bishops, and Henry VI. even 
conferred the title of Prince upon the Viceroy of 
his time, Hildebrand Pannocchieschi, and gave him 
a much more substantial privilege, that of electing 
the two Consuls of the City. An imwise demonstra- 
tion of despotic power, this last, and fruitful of 
future troubles. For Volterra, who had contrived 
to establish her Commune in this century, — the 
1 2th — was not likely to acquiesce in the nomination 
of the two heads of the popular party by an irre- 
sponsible Vi^eroy^ ^ , ^ 



138 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Thenceforward for many years to come the history 
of Volterra becomes merely a record of incessant 
struggles between the Bishops, (aided by the feudal- 
lords of the district) and the popular party. Upon 
the whole the Commune gained ground. The feudal- 
lords were, though slowly, subdued, and eventually 
made their submission to the Commune. 

The Episcopal Palace was upon more than one 
occasion besieged. And so much had the Commune 
got the better of their oppressive rulers that Bishop 
Galgano is said to have been put to death upon 
the threshold of the Cathedral itself. 

The gradual assertion of their rights by the 
popular party and their acquisition of power in 
Volterra is very similar to other Italian States. 

Yet in Volterra popular rights asserted themselves 
earlier than in Florence, and we may regard the 
year 1253 as the date of the virtual independence 
of Volterra, although the Bishops continued to exer- 
cise some very much modified rights even to the 
14th Century. Differences had arisen between 
Volterra and Florence some years previously to the 
year 1253 upon the ever-agitating subject of Guelph 
and Ghibelline, and had been brought to a head 
in that very year by a great disaster inflicted by 
Florence upon the Ghibelline cause espoused by 
Volterra. Heavy as the blow undoubtedly was, it 
was repaired six years afterwards by the defeat of 
the Florentines at Montaperto by the Sienese. The 
Ghibelline cause being in the ascendant again, King 
Manfred took the opportunity of conferring upon 
Volterra a Ghibelline representative of his own. But 
King Manfred's death shortly afterwards reversed 
the order of things, and again a further misfor- 
tune was to decrease the influence of Volterra in 
Tuscany. San Gimignano, over whom she had always 



HISTORY OF VOLTERRA 139 

asserted a sort of overlordship, invoked the aid of 
Florence. 

Florence espoused the cause of San Gimignano 
rather too warmly, for in ousting Volterra she 
appropriated San Gimignano to herself. 

Volterra and Florence had never been upon 
friendly terms. If not actually at war, Florence 
was ever seeking to humble her or to espouse the 
cause of any City with whom Volterra might be at 
variance. The prestige of Florence had always been 
great in Italy, even when she was not in possession 
of so much strength and wealth as she was in the 
15th Century. She had partisans, open or disguised, 
in many Cities of Tuscany, who were ever working 
for the increase of her influence and for the exten- 
sion of her dominions. It seems to have been so 
in Volterra also. Although Volterra did not suffer 
as much from the rivalries of great families as was 
the case in Perugia and in Florence herself, she was 
not free from them. And, in fact, it was from the 
disturbances and agitations caused by the pre- 
dominance of the Belforti family, in her later history, 
that Volterra dates the rapidity of her decline. It 
was in consequence of the ascendancy of this family 
that Walter de Brienne, Duke of Athens, then ^t 
the head of affairs in Florence, took upon himself 
the " protection " of Volterra. That certainly de- 
notes that Volterra was not wholly independent of 
Florence. Walter de Brienne signalised his brief 
tenure of power by the commencement of the great 
fortress early in the 14th Century. His misgovern- 
ment of Florence, however, caused his removal from 
both Cities very soon afterwards. Volterra, thus left 
to herself, was unwise enough to entrust her fortunes 
once more to the Belforti. This step was of no 
assistance to her in recovering her former status. 



140 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

She a,ppears to have lost all faith in herself and 
her fortunes. She was humbled so far as even to 
seek the aid of Florence in adjusting some difficul- 
ties which had arisen with the neighbouring City of 
Pisa. Florence eagerly embraced the opportunity 
of arbitrating, for it gave her the admirable idea 
of occupying Volterra for Volterra's own benefit. 

It did not prove to be a permanent occupation, 
it is true, and Volterra was still permitted a thin 
veil of autonomy. But the end was not far oft". 
Florence from that time, and until the final siege by 
Federico, Duke of Urbino, was virtually the ruler 
of Volterra, and in 1472 Volterra lost even the 
semblance of independence. 

A strange fortune, indeed, that a great City which 
in times past could bid defiance for two years to 
all the efforts of at great soldier like Sylla should 
have been unable to withstand the assaults of a 
City not bigger than herself. 

Time must have sapped the vitality of the old 
stock. The Volterrans, as they crouched round their 
desolated hearths and averted their gaze from the 
hideous scenes of ruin and pillage round them, must 
have realised that. Now all such scenes and con- 
siderations have passed away, for in modern Italy 
one City is as another, and rivalries no longer exist. 

Perhaps, (it seemed to me so) the joie de vivre 
is not the dominant note in Volterra as it is in many 
an Italian town. I do not know that the conditions 
of daily life are harder here than elsewhere, or that 
the problem — a very insistent one in poverty-stricken 
Italy — of keeping body and soul together is tougher. 
I should say that provisions are quite as cheap here 
as elsewhere, and that unemployment is rare, and 
that, in a great measure, thanks to the inexplicably 
buoyant condition of the alabaster trade. 



HISTORY OF VOLTERRA 141 

Perhaps it is that their, aloofness from the bustle 
of the world gives a sombre tint to their spirits, or 
that the " remembering happier things " affects them. 

It may be that constitutionally, unlike so many of 
the Latin Races, they find a difficulty in taking with 
a " frolic welcome— the thunder and the sunshine." 
Their clouds have no silver linings. 

And, indeed, were it one's lot in life to be con- 
fronted hourly by the hugest, and if splendid, 
certainly the most obtrusive of prisons upon the one 
hand, and upon the other extremity of the City to 
have to contemplate the ravages of a sort of chronic 
earthquake — well I one might observe, such a 
spectacle is rather calculated to " eclipse the gaiety 
of nations," as Dr. Johnson wrote when Garrick died. 



CHAPTER IX 

GROSSETO FOR RUSELL^ — RUSELL^ DESCRIBED 

Grosseto is but a few hours' railway journey from 
Cecina. For those who wish to explore the many 
Etruscan sites of the Maremma, this City will be found 
a very convenient and central headquarters. " The 
Queen of the Maremma " (as Grosseto is termed) 
offers the attraction of a comfortable hotel (Stella 
d'ltalia). Therefore, unless the malodorous name of 
Maremma should perturb you, (and really here it need 
not do that) you may quite make yourself up for a 
stay. It is not in the inhabited Cities of the Maremma 
that the malaria is to be feared. It is in the sparsely 
populated districts around, " Lontano da Citta, lon- 
tano da sanita," says an old Italian proverb. Indeed, 
since the Paludi di Castiglione e di Grosseto were 
drained, the health of the whole district around has 
undergone a great change for the better. 

Although it was late in May, I was not under 
the impression that I was doing anything very adven- 
turous in descending here. Nor was I deterred by 
sundry sombre jocularities from fellow-travellers as 
to the expediency of hurrying up my testamentary 
arrangements, and so forth. It may be allowed that 
the title of which Grosseto is proud, " Queen of the 
Maremma," is not a cheerful appellation. Rather 

142 



GROSSETO FOR RUSELL^ 143 

suggestive of a mephitic dominion, as of Proserpine 
and gloomy regions of Dis. " Betten to reign in 
hell than serve in heaven," Grosseto thinks, I 
suppose. Yet Grosseto and her surroundings are 
rather .cheerful. A fortified town, also, with brick 
bastions and two gates, and possessing quite an im- 
posing statue to Grand Duke Leopold II., who 
deserves well of his whilome subjects for having 
carried out great works of drainage around and 
planted the pretty groves and woods which much 
etnbellish the surroundings. A Cathedral, too, a 
work of the 13th Century, small, but extremely 
pretty, reminding you somewhat of Siena or Orvieto, 
(very touch in miniature), possessing also a very 
good Madonna by the Sienese Matteo di Giovanni. 
And the little Museum, which contains " roba " from 
adjacent Rusellas, and other Etruscan sites, will, of 
course, not be overlooked. Grosseto has no other 
association with Old Etruria, for her date is little 
earlier than her Cathedral. Rusell^ — the name has 
undergone no change — lies upon a' spur of Monte 
Leone, and overlooks the valley of the Ombrone (anc. 
Umbro). It is an easy drive of four or five miles 
on the main road N.N.E. of Grosseto to the so-called 
Bagni di Rusell^. Here you must descend, as the 
rest of the excursion has to be performed on foot. 

A jovial-looking stripling emerging from a popu- 
lous building at this point, (a sort of straggling* Agri- 
cultural School has been here established) declared 
himself to be a quite competent guide to the ruinous 
stronghold of Rusellse. Not only to guide, but to 
protect, for he appeared armed with a massive pitch- 
fork. This formidable-looking weapon suggested 
that some difficulties were ahead, or that somebody 
or something hostile was to be encountered. 

The enemy declared himself immediately after that 



144 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

we hSd struck off across the fields to the right. 
A charge of white and very suspicious bulls, with 
threatening horns, disputed our most peaceful 
advance. The bearer of the pitchfork was not at 
all dismayed, and had no difficulty in stemming their 
advance by a few deft passes of his weapon. A 
few cries and a little more brandishing of the pitch- 
fork sufficed to scatter them, and we were free to 
enter the copses through which the path to Rusellae 
lay. You pick your way through these umbrageous 
though stony paths along the flanks of the hill of 
Torre Moscone for about half an hour, and then, 
turning to the left, you emerge upon the famous 
site. The general shape of the City may be roughly 
described as that of a truncated cone, enclosed by, 
walls of huge blocks of masonry of various shapes 
and sizes, about a mile and three-quarters in circuit. 
From the spot where you have arrived the City 
seems to divide itself into two fairly defined plateaux. 
The slightly lower one where you are standing is at 
this season of the year a dense field of wheat. So 
high it is, in fact, that you can discern little 'else 
for the moment, and you scarcely know where you 
are or upon what you are treading until you are 
brought to a standstill by some remains of brick 
arches ruinous and much overgrown. Thfese vestiges 
are Roman' : in fact, you have unconsciously been 
through the Roman theatre, now a sea of wheat. 
Broken tiles and fragments of pottery have been 
clattering beneath your feet, and you are dimly con- 
scious that you have been avoiding some rather 
ominous holes during your advance. Wells, trap- 
doors, drains, cisterns, who knows? Fortunately the 
honest youth who guided had no archaeological pre- 
tensions, and so made no suggestions whatsoever. 
Clambering upon a mound beneath which the Roman 



GROSSETO FOR RUSELLJE 145 

arches are mor^ or less buried, it was easy and 
interesting to acquaint oneself with the general ap- 
pearance of Rusellse. 

You perceive in the first place that the walls are 
of two distinct styles. i The more ancient, of poly- 
gonal blocks, and the less so of horizontal and rect- 
angular masses .2 That is apparent, the latter style 
often, surmounting the former. 

Upon the Northern and Eastern walls the poly- 
gonal masses, and very huge some of them are, pre- 
dominate. The insertion of small stones between 
some of the blocks is noteworthy. Yet it must not 
be regarded as a return to the oldest style of wall, 
called Cyclopean. For here the blocks have been 
smoothed and shaped for position, which is in itself 
a proof of a later civilisation. Most of the gates — 

* First and oldest style is known as Cyclopean. Of Polygonal 
masses piled upon each other without any artificial adaptation of 
their sides, but the interstices occurring between each block filled 
up with small stones. 

Second style Pelasgian, or more generally Polygonal. Still 
polygonal masses, but the sides of the polygone are shaped and 
fitted to each other, so that the exterior walls present a smooth 
and solid surface. This style in general appearance much resembles 
the paved stone roads of the Romans. 

The third style, or Etruscan, as it is generally called in Italy, is 
that where you have horizontal courses, often irregular, of cut 
blocks of varying sizes, and the joints therefore not vertical. 

It will be understood that in none of these styles has mortar or 
cement been used. Of the so-called Cyclopean there is no instance 
in Etruria. 

Of both second and third styles together instances are to be seen 
in Rusellae, Cosa, and Populonia. Of the third, or Etruscan proper, 
the best instances are those of Volterra, Perugia, Cortona, and 
Fiesole. 

* Likely enough that this statement as to "polygonal blocks' 
may meet with cavil. Yet it will be allowed that much of the 
masonry here consists of blocks, " non- Etruscan," certainly. 

10 



146 IN ANCIENT ETRURJA 

six of which can clearly be made out — are upon the 
Northern and Eastern fronts.' 

They are massive, lofty, and all of square form. 
So far as my examination went I observed no instance 
of an arch. It is difficult, of course, in the case of 
dilapidated walls such as these, to speak with any 
authority as to their original height. Upon the 
Western side the walls have been most damaged, 
and here in parts the repairs seem! to be even of 
Roman work of horizontal blocks and of smaller size 
than we attribute to the Etruscans. On this flank, 
too, there are traces of a second or inner wall to 
strengthen and to support the higher ground. Much 
of this has slipped down. Upon the North side 
the walls are far higher, reaching to a height of 25 
or even 30 feet, which is very high for an Etruscan 
wall, and upon the East to 15 or 20 feet. Upon 
the South and West, where the polygonal blocks are 
in considerable Evidence, the walls seem; to have been 
always less high, chiefly of a " retaining character," 
as in the wall at Populonia. The wall of Cortona, 
e.g., which presents the best and most continuous 
series of Etruscan masonry in Italy, certainly does 
not anywhere exceed 15 feet in height. I should 
say that the average height there would not be more 
than 12 ft. The stone employed throughout — whether 
of the polygonal masses or of the Etruscan style — is 
of travertine and limestone, both stones inclining 
to a horizontal rather than to a vertical cleavage. 
The Pelasgi, then, must have had harder work than 
the Etruscans in shaping their blocks, I imagine 
that the stone was quarried in the neighbourhood, 
although I did not learn the exact spot. Micali 

' I believe Mr. Dennis spoke of many more gates. His authority 
can never be disputed, but he was here many years ago, when 
the ruins may have been in a less pronounced condition. 



GROSSETO FOR RUSELL^ 147 

detected diggings both of macigno and travertine 
within the precincts of the walls. If that was so, 
the Etruscans would have had little labour in the 
transport of their stone. 

The reader who has seen the. fine remains of the 
Republican period upon the Palatine will remember 
that the Romans were likewise enabled to draw their 
supplies of stone in the immediate vicinity of their 
buildings . 

You can wander at will over the Northern and 
Eastern portions — the site, I suppose, of the Arx. 
But upon the other sides your progress is mtich im- 
peded by the bristling bush and briar which has 
clothed the huge polygonal blocks. It has been so 
for centuries, for Polybius relates that during en- 
counters betwixt Romans and Gauls in these districts, 
the Gauls, who were accustomed to fight almost nude, 
suffered severely from; the prickly character of the 
bush and briar through which they had to penetrate. 
I could sympathise with the Gauls, although I was 
clad rather more in the Roman style than in the 
Gaulish, and yet the penetration of the thorns was 
severely apparent. I imagine that Rusellae has been 
but little investigated in recent years . There is, how- 
ever, a valuable mlap to be seen in the Museum at 
Grosseto in which the fexcavations made about one 
hundred and twenty -five years ago can be traced. 
The Roman theatre was then to a large Extent dis- 
closed. No tombs appear in that plan, and I believe 
but very few have ever been discovered. The site of 
the Necropolis is known, and lay unusually far off 
from the walls in, a ^Westerly direction. Some tumuli 
are visible there, which might be perhaps profitably 
examined. If they be not, — as I suspect, — tombs 
which have been opened and reclosed. 

Rusellas by Common consent has been designated 



148 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

as one of the Twelve Cities of the Etruscan confedera- 
tion. Yet the close neighbourhood of Vetulonia, one 
of the greatest of the Etruscan cities, seems to render 
the point doubtful. Livy, according to some com- 
mentators, having used the word " oppidum " and 
not " urbs " (in speaking of Rusellae) meant to imply 
a certain degree of inferiority. But that is still a 
moot question. And really the notices of Rusellae 
are very scanty indeed. Rome captured Rusellae 
in the year 294 B.C., and Dionysius has told us that 
Rusellae, in league with other Cities of the Etruscan 
Confederation, made war against Tarquinius Priscus. 

It has been authoritatively stated that Arezzo 
suffered defeats upon two occasions here, — presum- 
ably in alliance with Rusellae, against Rome, — and 
upon one such occasion Arezzo was in alliance with 
the Gauls. 

In the second Punic War Rusellae was still pos- 
sessed of sufficient importance to be able to furnish 
supplies to Scipio. " Invited to contribute," I sup- 
pose would have been the euphonious term\ One 
supposes that Rome, having her hands fully occupied 
by that war, did not care to drive the people of 
Rusellae to extremities. Having captured the City, 
she probably left to it a semblance of autonomy, 
until a more favourable period should arrive of en- 
tirely subduing her. In mediaeval times Rusellae 
is still found to be a place of some note, and even 
possessed of a bishopric. Nevertheless in the i ith 
Century it had dwindled into such feebleness and 
insignificance that it had become a mere shelter for 
bandits and outlaws. 

Having no raison d'etre for civilised existence, the 
sparse inhabitants were ordered to betake themselves 
to Grosseto, and Rusellae, as an inhabited place, 
ceased to be. 



GROSSETO FOR RUSELL^ 149 

The Monte Leone range of hills — upon one of 
which, as has been noted, Rusell^ was built — has of 
late years aroused much attention amongst Archaeo- 
logists as having been the scene of some remarkable 
prehistoric defensive works. 

So primitive, indeed, that Mr. Stillman, who some 
twenty years ago explored the district in order to 
convey to us some idea of their extreme antiquity, has 
styled them " pre -paleolithic." The particular portion 
of these lines which he investigated appears to be 
about eight miles in length, of a double wall, i.e., 
sixteen miles of construction, and of lo feet in width. 
The blocks of which this wall consists are simply 
piled one on another in such order as will enable them; 
to lie solidly. " The blocks arie not in the least 
shaped, and though in some cases of Cyclopean 
dimensions, they are as distinct from the earliest 
and Cyclopean walls as those are from; the latest 
and most elaborate Pelasgic." 

He proceeds, " On the summit of the mountain I 
found the remains of a Citadel, circular, and about 
150 yards in diameter, and still preserving the form 
and extent of the original structure. . . . Excava- 
tions, moreover, showed only fragments of pottery 
of the rudest hand-made type, and corroded by the 
elements in a manner in which I never saw pottery 
before. Investigation of a tumulus in the enclosure 
gave the same results, corroded pottery and a few 
fragments of bones shapeless from corrosion. . . . 
We may safely conclude that these works antedate the 
indications of the Pelasgic, which has been the earliest 
determinable work of collective human effort known 
to us in Italy. The unique character of these ex- 
tensive lines of defence seem' to me to suggest that 
the dwellers on Monte Leone were a sea-borne colony 
from' some foreign country invading Italy as per- 
manent colonists." 



150 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

The passage alluding to the supposed purposes of 
this work, and of the extension of it, and of the value 
of the Ombrone River, which in the defensive scheme 
washed the bases of the mountain -range, are too long 
for quotation, yet I have desired thus to point out 
to a traveller in these parts the suggestive character 
of these prehistoric remains in the neighbourhood of 
Rusellae. *' Remains so ancient, that in comparison 
with them the Pelasgic and Etruscan walls of this city 
take up almost a modern position." 

It is curious in these antiquarian rambles over 
lonely hills and dales, how quickly you establish 
friendly relations with your peasant-guides and pro- 
tectors. It is very niuch so, I think, in the case of 
Italians and Englishmen. A kind of " simpatia," it 
is (they say so themselves). There is some mutual 
attraction that they feel, as we feel, one for the 
other. They have heard some things tof us not to 
our discredit, and Italians are pleasing companions, 
attractive in so many ways in countenance and 
bearing. Thrown together for a few hours out 
of the storni a^nd stress of cities, in wild and 
solitary landscapes, having need, momentarily, of 
each other, you become friends. You like the 
glimpses of him which a few hours have given; 
you. There is a whiff of mystery in the air. He may 
have been Pelasgian, Etruscan, L'ydian, Assyrian, 
Amalekite, who knows? It is all very suggestive 
and agreeably problematical. Be that as it may, you 
have been friends for a brief hour or two. Then 
the cart drives up, and you drive away. The honest 
youth — he could do no mOre, waved a salute with his 
pitchfork — smiling and satisfied with us. Perhaps 
just a shade of annoyance on his countenance that he 
had not been able to make of that pitchfork an aveng- 
ing weapon. Spirits I Perchance? "Oh, yes, he had 



GROSSETO FOR RUSELL^ 151 

heard there are plejity of spirits in Rosella." " No I 
he had never seen one." " How did he know then? " 
" Oh, everybody says so." " What are they like, 
have you heard? " " Ma 1 qualche cosa terribile." 
I think now that he had brought his pitchfork with 
sonie hope of transfixing '* qualche cosa terribile." 
Perhaps he was not wrong. For it has very lately 
been said by an Englishman, one who has been 
investigating ghosts and their haunts, in his native 
land, that "it is always a prehistorical place that 
is productive of spirits." In a modest village in 
Northamptonshire, e:g., this ghost-seer had run down 
two Spirits. One wore the head of a: pig, — the other 
was more terrible, he was headless ! His theory was 
right, this gentleman declared, for he had ascer- 
tained that this modest village in Northamptonshire 
occupied a prehistorical site. iWhat terrible things, 
then, may logically be hoped for, or dreaded, to issue 
out of the ruins of Rusellse, where all dating must be 
left to wild conjecture. 

I so wish that I could have told my Rusellae lad 
of this ghost-seer's experiences. I think it would 
have cheered hini upon his daily path, or, as 
" Tilly Sloiwboy " wished to have been, I could have 
" frightened him! beautiful." 

A small collection of Etruscan roba will be found 
in the little museum in Grosseto. Much of the col- 
lection has come from other sites, and there being 
no catalogue it is not easy to discovler what things 
here are peculiar to Rusellae. 

But one article there is which comjnon consent 
assigns to a; Rusellae Tomb, and which prouder col- 
lections would gladly acquire. It is mjerely a rude, 
terra-cotta pot or vase, inscribed with an archaic 
alphabet. This is a precious relic, and would be 
Still more valuable could it guide us to an interpre- 



152 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

tation of the tongue of which it should be the key. 
The letters may be either Pelasgic or Etruscan, for 
both races made use of similar characters. But upon 
this black bowl are inscribed 22 letters, which num;ber 
is Pelasgic, for the Etruscans very provokingly limited 
themselves to the more archaic number of sixteen. 
In the Gregorian-Etruscan Museum of the Vatican 
there is a bowl or pot very similar to this. That 
was found in the Regolini-Galassi Tomb at Cerveteri 
(Csere), and contains many more letters than the 
Etruscans packed into their alphabet — it has 25. It 
is true that the instance before us has the two forms, 
jQ and K, and also the Digamma, or later form of the 
F. But we are not helped much by that. 

One would give a great deal to ascertain why these 
enigmatic men of old took their alphabets to the 
tomb with them. Was it for a course of winter-study 
in case they chanced to have some waking moments 
again? Had their education been so neglected in 
this life that they hoped to have a chance of repairing 
the deficiency in some other stage of existence? The 
only solution I can pretend to advance, not a very 
satisfactory one perhaps, is, that these tombs were at 
times occupied by the living, and that in one of the 
apartments therein, education may have been given 
to children. A schoolroom in short. 



CHAPTER X 

VETULONIA 

It is a long drive to Vetulonia from Grosseto, and 
you must make an early start, especially if you have 
any suspicions as to the intelligence, good-will, and 
energy of your vetturino. Should he break down in 
any one of these respects, he may endeavour to supply 
the deficiency by a display of obstinacy which will 
neither shorten nor enliven the journey. The first 
part of the journey is plain sailing fenough, and tra- 
verses the no -longer dreaded Maremma, over the 
now drained " Palude di Castiglione e Grosseto," 
and on a good road. The country around has quite 
a verdant appearance, and is crossed and intersected 
by dykes and canals of the drainage-works which have 
already done much to counteract the evil influences 
of the formerly pestilential marshes. The number of 
men employed in these works of reclamation gives 
a civilised appearance to the country, and is quite 
after the heart of the old Etruscans who were so 
great in works of drainage and agriculture. It is 
not to them, indeed, that blame is to be attributed 
for the long spell of desolation and negligence that 
has brooded over these once fruitful plains. It can- 
not be, I fear, unattended with risk to the labourers, 
this work of grappling with marsh ,and swamp. Yet 

153 



154 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

the work is not allowed to continue during the 
summer months, and the men are paid highly (for 
Italians), five francs a day, one of them' informed 
me, during the winter and early spring. 

It is when you get out of this country and begin 
to ascend the wooded districts beyond, and find your- 
self on country roads and tracks intersecting one 
another that you may find, or rather, your driver 
may find himself in some confusion as to the country 
where Vetulonia is situated. For, the site of the 
old City — or should I say the site to which Vetulonia! 
is now assigned — is not yet a' familiar spot, and 
tourists aire few and far between. It is only very 
lately that the site has been officially recognised. 
Here is the name as now authoritatively approved : 
" Vetulonia nell* agro Grossetano K Colonna sui 
Paludi di Castiglione della Pescaia." Certainly a 
lengthy inscription ! 

A liberal education in itself, and quite beyond the 
capacity of any one Vetturino to mark, learn, and in- 
wardly digest, even had he learned to read and write. 
Yet he might have held on to the blessed name of 
" Colonna," which seemed to be the clue to the 
mystery, especially as the place has been known as 
" Colonna di Buriano," for some time past. Colonna 
(anc. Colonia) is supposed to be a part of the 
scene of the famous battle of Telamon, where in 
A.u.C. 520 the Gauls were routed by the Romans. 
As we shall see anon, in noting the ancient remains 
unearthed there, the place has suffered extensively 
from fire and pillage. So many hills and dales in 
the vicinity of this place have from time to time 
yielded valuable remains of archaic art that it is 
evident that the Etruscans have occupied very many 
towns along the coast whose names have perished. 
And almost every discovery that has been made of 



VETULONIA 155 

tombs, vases, and other Etruscan remains, Vetulonia 
having been known to have existed somewhere in 
these palrts, has been hailed with a shout of 
" Eureka I " It is not surprising therefore that 
archaeologists should have so long been baffled. Mr. 
Dennis was persuaded, (some remarkable discoveries 
having been made in 1844 by an Engineer — Signor 
Pasquarelli) that the site of the ancient Vetulonia 
was in the vicinity of Magliano. The writer pf 
Murray's Guide for Central Italy appears to have 
confirmed the soundness of Mr. Dennis's views. The 
present writer will not pretend to examine the pros 
and cons with regard to the claims of the site alleged. 
He will merely say that he cannot reconcile the views 
of these writers with those that have given Vetulonia' 
to Colonna. The real discoverer of Vetulonia, and 
of the very extensive and valuable Necropolis of the 
City, has been Signor Ealchi. It is under his super- 
vision and personal direction that the work is daily 
yielding such valuable results. However far these 
doctors may disagree, the antiquarian will experience 
much arch^ological fervour when he finds himself 
mounting to this ancient site upon an ancient road. 
For around your path you will behold traces of ancient 
houses and columns and old masonry and fragments 
of old walls. Every evidence is around you of some 
old perished City, and a great thickly-wooded valley 
beyond upon the right, whence have been brought to 
light many an ancient tomb stored with archaic 
wealth. At first, as I glanced upon the old remains 
of houses and walls, I believed in the way of those 
inexperienced in things Etruscan, that here I had 
come upon the vestiges of an Etruscan City. A little 
closer examination and reflection made me see that 
I was looking at traces of a Roman occupation. 
I suppose the cheerful ajid elevated village where 



156 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

your jourAey ends to occupy the site of the Arx or. 
Citadel of the City. It was startUng to me to see 
the sea some hundred feet below on the West and 
South washing the base of the Village. Hence you 
could throw a stone down into the Tyrrhenian Sea. 
I have used the word " startling," for both Pliny and 
Ptolemy place Vetulonia amongst the '* inland 
Colonies of Etruria," a description which certainly 
will not answer to this sea-girt hill-town. But ja 
greater surprise was at hand. For turning myself 
round towards the valley of the Ombrone I perceived, 
— not more than six or seven miles distant apparently 
— glinting in the noonday sun like a castle of quartz, 
the venerable and now familiar walls of Rusellae ! 
Had only one earnest investigator of Etruscan sites 
been able to say " Vetulonia is situated upon high 
ground seven miles due West of Rusellse," — how much 
rummaging and ransacking of ancient sites we should 
have been spared ! 

At present, in this clean and interesting little hill- 
town, a great deal of animation prevails as fresh 
discoveries are daily being made in the adjacent 
dales and farms round about under the guidance of 
Signor Falchi at the head of the Government 
Archaeological Department. Farmers and the con- 
tadini are assuming airs of importance scarcely 
dreamed of formerly. One feels that one would swell 
with justifiable pride if in one's own little farm one 
had unearthed an ancient helmet, as happened here 
yesterday. Not to mention some twenty helmets 
that were discovered a few weeks ago, all heaped 
together in a pit with no traces at all of the heads 
which they had covered, — how many hundred years 
ago? I went with a contadino to his cottage where 
these land other spoils of the past were on view. 
Naturally I was anxious to possess myself of one or 



VETULONIA 157 

even two of these precious Gaulish or Roman relics 
of the past. But the present owner of them would 
not sell except "en bloc." Thus I had to forego 
my desire, as I was journeying to other ancieint 
sites, and I could not well go jingling about with 
^twenty helmets on my tour, and many of them, too, 
had suffered. I suppose the explanation of so many 
having been found together (not in a tomb) may be 
that as the tempest of battle swept over the district, 
— some of the slain — (one hopes that they were slain) 
were hurriedly disposed of in this way. One supposes 
that helmets were of so little value that those who 
buried the dead did not even pause to appropriate 
the head-gear of the slain. However that may be, 
now they have passed into the hands of those who 
may profit by them. The present proprietor ,told 
me that the owner of the land wherein such valuable 
objects are found, is allowed by Government to 
retain two -thirds of his finds — the other, third going 
to the Government Museum, — in this case at Florence. 
This little town possessing no museum, and the 
iowners of the subterranean wealth being generally 
disposed to sell their lawful share, it may be supposed 
that in the long run Florence manages to make larger, 
acquisitions than her original title gives her:. 

It is very curious that the site of Vetulonia should 
have been so utterly lost for so many centuries, for 
although the notices of ancient writers are scanty 
we have learned that she was a large City and of 
sufficient eminence to rank amongst the twelve cities 
of the Confederation. Some writers, too, have claimed 
for her a peculiarly Lydian character. 

She owed her foundation to a Lydian Colony, so 
they say, whether or not that claim' may be extended 
to Etruria generally. And her Lydian origin is based, 
upon the peculiarly distinctive character; of certaijrt 



158 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

institutions, symbols, and inventions, and which at a 
later period she passed on to Rome. 

The lictors fasces with axe, the curule chair of 
ivory, the regal purple robes, the sceptre surmounted 
by an eagle, the bronze war -trumpets*; all these 
things are first heard of in Italy as at Vetulonia. 
These insignia were sent from Vetulonia either ^s 
tributes to a Suzerain or in token of alliance to 
Tarquinius Priscus, or, (for their accounts differ,) 
to Tullius Hostilius. Dio*nysius of Halicarnassus and 
Silvius Italicus have m^de these statements. Ptolemy 
called the City Vetulonium. The Etruscan name was 
.Vetluna. Upon some coins the sign is merely a " V " 
they say, but I miake out the letter to be a Pelasgian 
" S," and certainly - ' V " is not Etruscan. The well- 
known Via Clodia must be near here, for it has been 
traced to the adjacent City of Populonia. It is very 
possible that it ran also to Vetulonia and that I 
traversed it to-day. 

Mr. Dennis was much in favour of Talamone ^ 
being the ancient port of Vetulonia. Yet I think 
Talamone too distant, and it must be remembereid 
that that author placed the site of Vetulonia at or 
near Magliano-^ 

I think that Telamon (modern Talamone) might 
(more plausibly be assigned to Rusellas as her Port. 
The River Ombrone, — !which was navigable in old 
days, — and which can be said almost to wash the walls 
of Rusellae, would have connected that City with 
the Sea very near Talamone. To Vetulonia, — if we 
accept the present site,— having no harbour of her 
own, might be assigned a small Port now known as 

* "Telemon" was called by the Etruscans "Tlamne," after the 
Argonaut Telamon, it is said. From this place some remarkable 
remains of a Temple, vide Etruscan Museum at Florence. 

» Vide Murray's "Guide to Central Italy." Albegna, p. 218. 



VETULONIA 159 

Castiglione della Pescaja — or even Populonia itself. 
But I must make no further conjectures of the kind 
for the data are quite insufficient. As regards the 
site at present assigned to Vetulonia, one fervently 
hopes that the award may be regarded as final, and 
that we shall not again have to start upon a further 
quest; or this village will have to take legal pro- 
ceedings against a new pretender to the rights which 
it has lately taken over, and whether this be the 
genuine Vetulonia or not, we are undoubtedly upon 
the remains of a great and wealthy Etruscan City, 
The Very extensive Necropolis, the number and 
importance of the Tombs, some of them bearing 
traces of painting, and the rich and varied nature of 
the bronze objects discovered in them are sufficing 
proofs. I 

If the abundance of the " hut " cinerary urns and 
the archaic style of much of the pottery, found here 
be proof of great Antiquity, Vetulonia should be 
one of the most ancient of Etruscan Cities. Another 
evidence pointing to the antiquity of the City would 
be, I fancy, the absence of inscriptions. 

As regards the great number of the '* hut " cinerary 
urns, I might add that I regard that as an argument 
against the alleged Lydian colonisation of this City, 
for no such type of cinerary urn has ever been found 
in ,Lydia, and I believe that people there were 
generally in favour of the burial of their dead. 

Unless for a chance discovery during your day 
at Vetulonia, or for the sake of visiting some cleared- 
out tomb in the vicinity that may yet remain open, 

^ In some of the passages above which seem to suggest doubts 
as to the present site, I have had undoubtedly passages from Pliny 
and Strabo in my mind. One of these passages says that Vetulonia 
was an " inland colony," another says that " Populonia was the only 
Etruscan City situated upon the Sea." 



160 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

you will find little to detain you. The bulk of the 
archaic wealth of the City and the environs has gone 
to Florence, and it is in the Etruscan Museum there 
that you will be able to study it. The spoils of each 
Etruscan City have a room or two assigned to them, 
almost every article is labelled and ticketed so that 
you can inform yourself quietly and without hurry 
upon the nature and character of every branch of 
'Etruscan art. 

Such being the case I will proceed to point out 
the more remarkable objects to be seen in the 
Museum, and will designate in some cases the farm or 
tomb whence the trouvaille comes. 

And pre-eminent amongst such discoveries are two 
large bronze vessels of that form which is known 
as " Lebes " of a type well known in terra -cotta, 
and frequently to be met with in collections of ceramic 
ware. I believe these bronze specimens to be unique, 
and of a style and character not to be matched else- 
where in Etruria. They were found in 1905 in a 
.Vetulonian Tomb, which has been appropriately 
named " Tomba dei Lebeti." The larger of the two 
bowls seems, says Professor Milani ' to have been 
dedicated to (Etruscan) " Tufetha " (Hera-Gea) the 
consort of Tin, or Tinia, — or Jove. For her head, — 
in duplicate, appears upon the top of the bowl to 
which she is fastened by her wings. Rings are 
attached closer to the mouth of the vessel, evidently 
for suspension by chains (the chains are deficient). 
Around the bowl and fastened by their necks are six 
heads of lions, each with gaping jaws and with* 
enamelled eyes to intensify, their savage expression. 
The smaller lebes is similar in treatment, though six 
heads of gryphons are substituted for those of lions. 
Two heads of Tin or Tinia, in form and fashion of 
' Professor Milani, Director of the Etruscan Museum at Florence. 



VETULONIA 161 

head-dress of the Assyrian type (Ahura-Mazda, says 
Professor Milani) answers to that of the Goddess-^ 
also of the Assyrian type upon the larget vessel. 

The gryphons are as fortnidable in appearance as 
the lions, and like those are fastened by their necks to 
the bowl. This lebes has also rings for suspension. 
These vases are supposed to have been awarded to 
victors in the games. The masterly style and superb 
workmanship of these very fine vessels — all hammered 
work be it noted — fully bear out the traditional fame 
of Vetulonia in the arts and crafts. 

Yet great as is their artistic merit, the peculiarly, 
Assyrian decoration of them seems to me of even 
greater value, as establishing a connection in the 
theogonies of the two countries. If, by means of 
these remarkable vessels, we may be able to trace 
out that the Assyriain deities were pot unknown to or 
unworshipped by the Etruscans, we shall have made 
a great step forward in the science of Etruscology. 
There has been of late years an increasing tendency. 
to deny to the Etruscans any art -faculty at all. The 
fame of her bronze-work at least has been vouched 
for by the Greeks themselves, and so, notwithstanding 
the Assyrian character of the details of these vessels, 
let us trust that the Etruscans may be credited with 
their manufacture, and that we may never see them 
labelled 3,3 " made in Assyria." 

Another bronze article, although of quite a different 
character, is a " Kottabos " found recently, not in 
a Tomb, but outside the City-wall near the Arx. .This 
is a bronze rod or thin column of about 7 feet 
in height surmounted by a saucer or shelf with a 
larger shelf or saucer in the centre, of the rod. The 
** Kottabos " I was an Etruscan game in which a coin 

' This Kottabos must not be confused with the " game," — so often 
illustrated upon the Greek vases. That was a game of casting wine 
out of a cup at a given and rather remote spot. 

11 



162 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

was thrown up and was to be lodged upon one of 
jthese receptacles. The top is surmounted by a 
dancing Satyr. Other " finds " lately made are of 
bronze candelabra — one being of four branches of 
four burners each. From such a specimen we learn 
how liberally the Etruscans were accustomed to illu- 
minate their sepulchres. One wishes that these were 
suffered to remain in the tombs and that we could 
benefit by them still instead of groping through these 
dark abodes with the tallow dip— which is all the light 
that is vouchsafed to the investigator of to-day. One 
understands now that the artists who painted the walls 
'of the tombs were very much better provided with 
light than we are to-day. Indeed, how could they 
have painted at all had they not been amply supplied 
with torches or candles? 

The contents of the so -styled " Tomba del Duce " 
are amongst those which will chiefly claim your atten- 
tion, and not only as proofs of the great skill of the 
iVetulonian artists in fashioning bronze, but as show- 
ing the violence of a great conflagration which must 
Jiave 3wept oyer the entire City. A large bronze 
cinerary bowl, e.g., containing charred debris of 
swords and shields, paterse, horse-trappings, couch- 
decorations, candelabra — some of which are fused to- 
gether by the fire — is in itself a suggestive spectacle. 
It is curious to note that the helmet of the warrior has 
escaped uninjured. The long bronze cinerary urn 
which contained his ashes (twice cremated one fears) 
was decorated with silver ormentation also in the 
Assyrian style. It still retains valuable portions, e.g., 
winged monsters, gryphons and sphinxes between 
boldly executed scrolls of the anthsemion pattern. 
From these and other instances here, ornamentation 
in the Assyrian manner seems to have prevailed in 
Vetulonian art. The action of the flames must have 



VETULONIA 163 

been very fitful there to have destrbyed so much that 
was soUd, and here to have spared so much that was 
fragile. A small bronze boat, decorated in similar 
fashion, was found in the same tomb. The warrior, 
perhaps, may have been an Admiral or a Pirate : a; 
synonymous term in those lawless times, for in those 
irregular early days of Etruscan maritime supremacy 
piracy seems to have been more than winked at. One 
portion (of the silver plating of this boat is of jan; 
astounding design. It is simply a flowing pattern of 
Norman arches intersecting each other and thus form- 
ing Gothic arches in the precise mode in which the 
Gothic style is said to have originated. It is startling 
to find ornamentation such as this turning up in the 
tomb of an Etruscan. Here also are to be seen the 
retaains of the warrior's bronze Biga and of the 
bronze trappings of his horses. The horses' bones, 
if they were placed here— (the precedent is not un- 
known)-^have vanished as completely as their master 
has done. Much, too, of this bronze work has suffered 
from the flames, some portions being completely 
fused. Many other remarkable articles in the vicinity 
of the above may be noted. A three-pronged pitch- 
fork (this portentous-looking implement recalled 
to me my youthful guide at Rusellae !) ; more horse- 
trappings of good twisted open work ; and fibulse in 
Igreat abundance. Many of these last are strung; 
together like necklaces (this has been done by the 
authorities here to keep such numerous articles lof 
the type together). The extraordinary abundance of 
fibula in gold and bronze, and often of terra -cotta, is 
explained by the fact that such articles were made tise 
of not only in Etruria but all over the world by both 
sexes in fastening their draperies. And now we can 
examine some of the articles in gold, and the Vetu- 
lonians were fine goldsmiths. As an example, regard 



164 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

a plate or band formed of a procession of sphinxes 
and winged lions in repousee work. This, again, is 
quite Assyrian in style. Gold necklaces, too, (are 
plentiful, one with pendant heads representing 
monkeys' faeces. Some of them were obtained from the 
Tomb, " a Tumulo — della Pietrera," — wherein were 
discovered some remarkable and rude sculptures of 
the stone called " pietra fetida." These are of very 
primitive art and are attributed to the 7th Century 
B.C. The Tombs, known respectively as *' degli 
Aquastrini " and " Milastroni," have produced finely 
decorated gold bracelets and fibulas. 
''"" Another Tomb from the Poggio (Farm), " alia 
Guardia," has yielded up five or six prettily worked 
thin gold bracelets and some gold fibulas worked 
in slight relief with wolves or foxes. The " Tomba 
della Pietrera," alluded to, was situated beneath an 
earthern tumulus, as was the case with most of the 
more important tombs throughout Etruria. This 
Tomba della Pietrera was one of the Necropolis 
proper and was unearthed in the excavations of 
1891-93. A type of cinerary tomb frequent in Vetu- 
lonia; is that known as " a pozzetto," and I should 
suppose, — as the cinerary hut-urn is often found 
within the jar, — of a very early epoch. The mouth 
of the jar or bowl is closed by a cover of stone, or 
sometimes of bronze, often of the shape of a shield. 
The same type is found elsewhere — at Volterra e.g. 
Here, I think, it is more common. A few words upon 
the cinerary hut -urns of terra-cotta may be allowed. 
For it is beyond dispute that they do represent the 
humbler dwelling-places of the early Races in Italy. 
I say Italy, — because the discovery at or near Albano 
a few years ago of some beneath the lava, which had 
flowed from the old volcano of Monte Cavo, shows 
that the style was familiar in Latium too. One 



VETULONIA 165 

supposes that the original habitation was formed of 
wood. Be that as it may, the skill with which these 
terra-cotta models have been wrought is very remark- 
able. Every detail of the original habitation has been 
minutely rendered. In form more generally elliptic 
than circular, the roof which forms the cover or lid is 
decorated by beams and rafters. It has a square 
door and a square window both defined by three lines 
of moulding ; over the roof lengthways, and exactly 
in the centre, is a raised pipe jio doubt to carry off 
the smoke of the fire, which in ancient times blazed 
upon the floor. Three pairs of twisted ornaments 
shaped like horns stand out upon the roof. These 
probably were introduced as ornaments for the 
purpose of concealing the pipe which the inhabitants 
may have considered unsightly. The hut is often 
incised or scratched outside with mere lines, just as 
the ruder and earlier vases are scratched. One 
curious feature of this urn is that the door has a 
handle affixed in the interior. One supposes that 
the hut was thus closed from the interior before the 
cover and roof were finally placed in position. Gene- 
rally with the ashes within are found little terra-cotta 
vases. 

Possibly the oldest of all relics yet discovered 
at Vetulonia' is the stele of " Aulu Elusker." A 
wairrior heavily armed, he is scarcely more than incised 
upon the stone. The value of it lies in the inscription 
which goes all roufid the square slab — merely 
scratched also. But any signs of writing in this part 
of Etruria being so scarce are suggestive. The 
stele is of a ruder style than that of Volterra or of 
Pomerance. 

I noted here also: some good terra'-cotta figures 
with paterse in their hands of a" style superior to the 
general terra-cotta work of Vetulonia, and also two 



166 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

or three heads of the sattie material of quite a Greek 
type of the kind found at Taranto and other places 
in Magna Grascia. It is possible that they were 
imported thence, althou.g'h I ^o not agree that Etruria 
owed much in that way to Magna Grcecia,i for I 
believe that her early trade-routes were quite other 
than from the South. 

iWhilst we are engaged upon the terra-cotta work 
of Vetulonia the reader will permit me to draw his 
attention to a quaint example. It is a terra-cotta; 
boot elaborately worked with tags and bosses, laced 
round the ankle, and with a thick sole. It is quite 
our modern shooting-boot. Another instance that 
the Etruscans were very nice in their mode of shoeing 
themselves. It is just possible that this also was 
used as a cinerary urn, for there was no limit to 
Etruscan ingenuity in startling exemplars of the kind. 
You will notice in the glass cupboards arranged round 
these rooms an infinite olla podrida of " objets " 
generally of bronze. Daggers, axes, censers, rings, 
bracelets, beads, intermixed with articles of glass and 
ivory. Bronze razors, too, are very much in evidence. 
These are often in the shape of three-quarter moons. 
Much jagged their edges are now, and queer articles 
to be found in tombs. But that they were generally 
used by the Etruscans is proved by the smooth chins 
and faces to be observed in the portraits upon the 
sarcophagi. Some writers say that the large number 
of the small terra-cotta pierced whorls to ,be seen 
in this Museiun served for passing the threads through 
when engaged in spinning. Others are of opinion 
that they were attached as weights to keep down the 
garments of the dead. Few coins that can be 

^ Although many vases found in Etruscan Tombs bear the name 
of artists known to be of Magna Graecia, I believe that these were 
of later importation. 



VETULONIA 167 

assigned to Vetulonia have been found, and those few 
like the bronze idols do not cottie from tombs, but 
from scavi. I do not think that the Etruscans coined 
silver freely, and gold much less. I think that 
generally they confined themselves to copper. 

I do not suppose, as the Vetulonian coins are 
neither numerous nor sufficiently interesting, that the 
visitors to the Museum: will devote much time to them. 
I think that the reproduction of certain Tombs from 
Vetulonia and Volterra in the courtyard of the 
Museum will prove of far greater interest. Indeed, it 
is possible to learn m!uch more here of the Etruscan 
mode of constructing their sepulchres than upon the 
sites themselves. For in some cases the tombs and 
their actual materials have been bodily transported 
and re-erected here. 

So varied and important have been the discoveries 
at Vetulonia that we seem even to have added a little 
more to our small stock of knowledge about Etruria. 

The strong influence that the art of Assyria, even 
a' religious influence too, seems to have had on 
Vetulonia at least, sets ones thoughts Eastward 
again. Perhaps after all it may be in the City of 
Vetulonia where the Etruscan sphinx will have ito 
•• climb down " 1 



CHAPTER iXI 

POPULONIA 

It is but little over an hour's railway-journey from 
Grosseto to Piombino — where you will descend for 
the drive to Populonia. You have to change trains 
at Campiglia for the branch line to Piombino, and 
thus you may have a few minutes to admire the 
fine and lofty position of that small hill -town. It is 
crowned by the ruins of a mediseval Castle. Here, 
formerly, some archceological authorities were wont 
to place the site of Vetulonia, chiefly because some 
ancient tombs and remains of old buildings had been 
unearthed in the vicinity. In the i6th Century in- 
deed, there lived an imaginative archseologist, named 
Leandro Alberti, whose " inward eye " was on so 
enlarged a scale that he conjured up a wooded amphi- 
theatre crowded with shattered columns, broken 
statues, tombs, ancient masonry, wells, Etruscan in- 
scriptions, and so forth. These things he declared 
to be portions of the long-vanished Vetulonia. No 
man living has ever beheld this fata morgana con- 
jured up by that wild and wandering eye. 

It was alleged subsequently by Inghirami (an 
archseologists of Volterra), who was writing about 
ninety years ago, that his imaginative predecessor 
had not even visited this romantic site, but had boldly 
copied a MS. written by a preceding and equally 

163 



POPULONIA 169 

imaginative author, a certain Zaccaria Zacchio of 
Volterra.i 

This phantom of a Vetulonia having been long ago 
laid to rest by the discovery of a more substantial 
City we may resume our journey to Piombino. I 
think that Felice Bacciochi, the brother-in-law of 
Napoleon, must have rather grimly contemplated this 
portion of his principality of Lucca and Piombino 
presented to him by the great warrior, when he first 
came to look at it. Attid one can imagine how Eliza 
his [wife — " the Semiramis of Lucca " as she got to 
be termed — would have regarded it ! For it is cer- 
tainly a miserable straggling townlet upon the sea- 
shore. Featureless, dirty and unsympathetic, entirely 
given up to two thousand charcoal burners, boat- 
men, fishermen, and porters. It is merely an append- 
age of Porto Ferrajo, neighbouring Elba's more lively 
harbour. I ewdeavoured to soothe myself by recall- 
ing that Pionibino has one association with the classic 
past. Once upon a time a Greek Statue of Apollo, 
with a Greek inscription, was fished up in the harbour, 
but I know not where it has gone to. 

No one could seek shelter (it was bad enough to 
eat there) in any one of the low and dirty inns to be 
found in the wandering, long street which makes up 
Piombino. The limited resources of Piombino proved 
equal to the production of some sort of ramshackly 
vehicle, — feeble beast and tattered harness inclusive, 
— equal to the effort of compassing the five-mile drive 
to the famous site of Populonia. 

It is a pleasing excursion, the grimy buildings 
left behind, mounting through copses and young 
woods fresh and smiling in their renovated May 
verdure, and sonorous with the songs of birds. As 
you approach Populonia, the lofty, bold headland 

^ I have extracted the above story from Mr. Dennis's "Cities and 
Cemeteries." 



170 IN ANCIENT ETBURIA 

beyond, you have first to descend to the deserted 
seashore of the Bay of Baratti, once so busy with 
life and activity, and then you enter a real forest 
of young trees. Ascending through these woods (it 
is a steep ascent) you find yourself upon the com- 
manding height upon which Populonia stands. It is 
a magnificent position, and a very strong one in those 
ancient days when the City had always to keep a 
watchful eye upon her valuable possession of Elba — 
l^thalia, as its name then was (Ilva in Roman days), 
and seems upon the authority of Servius to have 
belonged in still older days to Corsica and wrested 
from that island by Volterra, to which Populonia 
formed the port. Upon Elba Etruria chiefly de- 
pended for iron and copper, which were smelted at 
Populonia and then passed on, chiefly to Volterra, 
who derived much of her wealth from these materials. 
It does not appear certain that Populonia was 
reckoned amongst the Twelve Cities of the Confedera- 
tion. Indeed, being subject to Volterra, which was one 
of the Twelve, it would have been highly improbable. 
Yet her iniportaiice was great and her antiquity un- 
doubted. Virgil, whose fame as an archaeologist is 
ever increasing, describes the City in his ^neid as 
being one amongst others that furnished six hundred 
warriors in aid of yEneas . In very much less ancient 
times Populonia is heard of, like Rusellae and other 
Etruscan cities, as complying with the demands qf 
Scipio for contributions to aid him in ciarrying on 
the war with the Carthaginians. In her case it was 
to be iron. The classic archaeologist speaks of a 
famous temple of Juno here. I suppose it to have 
been a Roman temple, for the Etruscan name for 
Juno was Thalnaand sometimes Cupra. Pliny refers 
to a curious Statue as existent here in his day, of a 
Jupiter hewn out of the trunk of a vine. It should 
have been Bacchus rather, or Phuphlans, as the 



POPULONIA 171 

Etruscans called that god. For the Etruscan name 
iot the City was Pupluna\ evidently derived from' 
Phuphluus,! or " Pup," " tout court," as is found 
upon some of the coins, but I have not seen " Pup." 
The circuit of the City is but slight, — I Should think 
barely a mile. Portions of the Etruscan wall are 
still in situ, chiefly upon the Western side. They are 
called here " I Massi." The arrangement is of the 
customary Etruscan style, parallelopids in horizontal 
courses, the horizontal being irregularly maintained. 
The blocks, though often imposing in size, are in- 
ferior in length and breadth to many of the Etruscan 
walls elsewhere. The character of the rock is juot 
of a very solid nature and the blocks have often split. 
Thus it is difficult to ascertain their original measure- 
ment. The height of the walls also is slight, I should 
think not averaging more than 12 feet, and to be 
regarded rather as a retaining embankment than as 
an enceinte for protection. Traces of the Etruscans, 
other than their walls, there are none whateyer. 
And the Romans also, who rather unaccountably 
thought fit to colonise, temporarily at least, every 
place they captured, have left us but little. Some 
half a dozen vaults known as " concamerationes," a 
fragment of a mosaic, and some reservoirs just serve 
to remind us of Rome's irrepressible ubiquity. 

The last thing we hear of Populonia in Roman 
times is that she was snuffed out — like Volterra — by, 
Sylla. And we have a later note of Populonia in 
the 9th Century. The Saracens who were for ever 
darting about the Tyrrhenian coasts during that 
period, are reported to have expunged whatever re- 
mained of any value. But they could not have found 

' It is said by ancient authors that Populonia was once in 
possession of Corsica and also of Elba. Corsica was a Phocaean 
Colony. The famous battle between Agylla and that Colony is 
referred to in the account of Caere. 



172 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

very much, unless they dug on the chance of finding 
buried valuables. 

The position of Populonia has never been, I 
believe, quite abandoned. The site has proved too 
attractive. And here accordingly the old family of 
Desiderii have long been in possession of an ancestral 
castle and exercise such feudal rights as the 20th 
Century permits to them. I suppose, too, that the 
very sparse inhabitants around the castle walls may 
be regarded as not having much more occupation 
than they may find in ministering to the needs of 
the present lords of Populonia. My needs, were I 
one of them, would rather be those of incessant 
excavation, or — when the condition of the crops 
did not permit that — to add yet another chapter to 
the great volumes of Napoleonic chronicles. One 
of the Desiderii dwelling upon this suggestive 
eminence might well inhale inspiration for such a 
work, as his glance takes in from; this fine headland 
some of the scenes for ever connected with the great 
Conqueror's career. Corsica, — Napoleon's birthplace, 
the mountainous and straggling looking island upon 
the far South, and the nearer and more modest island 
of Elba a patch of colour upon the South-East. 

It scarcely needs a great effort of imagination to 
behold the " King of Elba " on board that boat 
yonder, fleeing from his tiny and transient dominions 
for Frejus and thence to Paris, until the thunder- 
bolts of a wearied Olympus struck down the Man 
of Destiny at Waterloo. But let us shake off the 
associations of yesterday and return to our Etruscan 
realms withdrawing our glance from these historical 
islands. Turning to the West, and with a pair of 
glasses, you should make out Leghorn and beyond 
that the Gulf of Spezia. Upon this gulf lay Luna 
or Luni, the extreme North -West boundary of Etruria, 
and in the very ancient days of her fame, her most 



POPULONIA 173 

importapit naval possession. Although the name of 
no City has come down to us, the frequent discovery 
in modem times of Etruscan Tombs and other ancient 
renlains along the coast between Populonia and Luni 
attest the wide dissemination of the Etruscan Race 
along those shores. 

Much exploration of the site of Populonia has 
been made, and many Tombs upon the Southern 
slopes, ^nd also upon a hill to the East, have come 
to light. Yet it is probable that future excavations 
may bring to light a great deal more when the 
Necropolis proper has been further investigated. 
Nevertheless, the discoveries that have already been 
made prove that Populonia had either manufactured 
or imported larticles of artistic worth not inferior 
to those which have been found in cities such as 
Volterra or Orvieto. Most of these discoveries are 
to ibe seen in the great Depository of Etruscan art 
at Florence. These will be alluded to at the end of 
the Chapter. 

Very silent, deserted, and solemn is the little 
harbour pf Baratti now. Yet a meditative half- 
hour passed upon the sands as the curvetting waves 
play upon the deserted shore will not be without 
many suggestions. For this was Pppulonia's 
harbour. Here in Etruria's prime were the dock- 
yards in which her ai'gosies were fashioned. Here 
her fleets started to overawe the adjacent seas, to 
reduce the Phoc^ans to obedience, or to bring back 
from ^thalia (Elba) those precious ores of iron and 
copper which were so great a source of wealth to 
the Etruscans. Hence, too, it is to be feared sailed 
most of those purely piratical excursions for which 
Etruria was so famed. Nor did she incur much 
obloquy in such lawless ventures, for in those rude 
times public opinion did not discriminate too nicely 
between corsairs and admirals. Here were thie great 



174 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

smelting furnaces in which -^thalian iron and copper 
were to be fashioned and distributed throughout the 
land. I do not know if any remains of these great 
furnaces have been traced, but I think if we could 
clear some of those copses which clothe so richly 
the slopes of Populonia and to excavate we might 
discover some pits, and likely enough the traces of 
roads which went up to the City. But now not a 
sail is to be seen in the Port, not a hut upon the 
shore, not a human being ! I have been too hasty. 
There is one low, modem tower, and there is one 
individual. The low tower serves as a douane, or 
coastguard,! and the individual is the douanier 
(doganiere), who is dissimulating excessively to be 
on jthe qui vive for a smuggler. Yet, as no onq 
comes, or hath come since the beginning of a month 
or two ago, the douanier is but too glad to have, 
a quarter, of an hour's chatter with the rare tourist 
and to receive from him the rarer journal, such as 
the " Secolo " of Grosseto or the " Corriere " of 
Piombino, and to know the latest horror. There is 
certain to be something in either journal to curdle 
his blood, or to stimulate his fancy, and to divert 
his eternal contemplation of a deserted port. A 
" coltellata " at Grosseto, for example, of a " donna 
tagliata in pezzi " at Piombino. For Italian journals 
depend much upon their circulation in disseminating 
the (sensational. And so, leaving our doganiere to 
spell out such startling announcements and amidst 
repeated cries of " buon viaggio " from him, we 
leave the historic shores of Baratti and drive away 
upon our return homewards. And by a sudden and 
happy .inspiration direct the driver to make for a 
handier station (it .could not be a humbler one), 

' Near this little tower was unearthed some years ago a mosaic, 
evidence of Roman occupation at all events. The Etruscan arsenal 
is said to have been situated about the centre of the bay. 



POPULONIA 175 

called Poggio d'Agnello, and so avoid altogether 
Piombino of recent and squalid memory. And 
Poggio d'Agnello is really the best and nearest 
station to alight at for Populonia. But in that case 
you would have to order a vehicle to meet you 
from Piombino, for the resources of this village are 
not equal to the production of a carriage. 

In the room in the Florence-Etruscaii Museum 
assigned to Populonia are to be seen the most 
valuable examples of the trouvailles. Yet, as I have 
noted above, the number of them seems small con- 
sidering the fame and importance of the City. The 
small number of vases hitherto obtained from the 
Tombs suggests that the Necropolis has been im- 
perfectly explored, yet the style of those here is 
[exceedingly good. That is. faint praise indeed for 
the two large hydri^ which were found two or three 
years ago. I do not think that at Vulci itself, that 
treasure-house of Greek ceramic art, finer instances 
of the grand style of the 4th Century have bejen 
discovered. For brilliancy of patina:, for graceful 
forms, for refinement of design, for perfection of 
drawing, they, seemed to be unique. The figures 
are red upon a black ground. One vase tells the 
story of •' Phaon," the other that of '- Adonis." Both 
lovely stories, told as only a Greek artist in love 
with his subjects could tell them. iWihat grace pf 
attitude, what loveliness of forms, what beauty of 
heads and features, what refinement, arid yet what 
"abandon" in movement and pose 1 And the 
exquisite jsimplicity of the draperies 1 A purist might 
perhaps take objection to the introduction of gilding 
into the decoration. Yet gilding has been very 
sparingly introduced. A wreath here, a necklace 
there, has just been touched with gold ^ no mote, 
you scarcely, teniark the employment of gold until 
you look closely into the details. Another marvel 



176 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

reflects upon the skill of the artist of to-day. For 
these vases were shattered when found. Yet they 
have been repaired with such skill and ingenuity 
that you have to «xamine closely to see where the 
pieces have been joined. 

Then two small vases of white figures upon ^ 
black ground of singularly brilliant patina. These 
also seem to me of quite the best style. Some of 
the gold work, the brooches especially, is highly 
artistic . The bronze articles are, of course, numerous, 
though inferior, both in number and variety, to those 
of Vetulonia. Amongst these are two very well- 
preserved bronze " dippers." These were used for 
transferring wine from one vessel to another. 
Populonia can boast of one article that so far as 
I know is unique. It is a horse or mule collar set 
round with bells. Not, however, the form of bell 
which is to be seen in modern instances. These 
are more of the form which we see in tambourines. 
I was iglad at length to have seen ,any form of 
Etruscan bell. 

A leaden tablet, inscribed with Etruscan 
characters, the purport of which has not been de- 
ciphered, is worthy of note, so few examples of 
writing having been found in this portion of Etruria. 

It is with the coins of Populonia that we seem 
to get in touch with the City as a commercial centre. 
These lare jiumerous in proportion to " finds " of 
that 'Jcind in Etruria. It is suggested that many 
of these may have been wrought by Greek Artists. 
Certainly the type of the silver coins generally ^s 
a Greek one. But in those cases where the emblem 
is clearly Etruscan the work may be attributed to 
a native artist. And certainly so when inscribed 
with Etruscan letters. Most of this latter class are 
of bronze or copper. 

The so-called " Gorgoneion," for instance, is 



POPULONIA 177 

clearly of Etruscan design. This is supposed to 
be the head of Medusa, ^ with huge open mouth 
embellished with frightful tusks and a protruding 
tongue. " jQuam mutata ab ilia ! " the formidably 
beauteous Gorgon ; that child of destiny, harassed 
of Athene, beloved of Poseidon, and slaughtered by 
Perseus. As represented upon this coin, she is just 
one of the ruthlessly realistic monsters with which 
Etruscan fancy was so charged. Some see in this 
presentment a symbol of the lunar disc. And 
perhaps this terror may represent the Etruscan idea 
of the Man in the Moon. There is, howevef, a 
rocky islet visible from the headland of Populonia, 
known as Gorgona ; and it is possible that this 
Gorgoneion effigy may bear some reference to that 
rock. 

Other coins relating to Populonia bear helmeted 
or wreathed heads on obverse, with owls on reverse — 
inscribed in Etruscan characters with the name 
" Pupluna." Others have a head of Mercury or 
Hermes wearing' a winged petasus, (" Thurms " was 
the Etruscan name for that deity,) with a rude 
caduceus twice repeated upon the reverse. Often 
these coins, upon one side and another, are stamped 
with |two, three, or four little balls. These, it js 
said, denote the value. Mercury being regarded as 
the God of Commerce, his symbol would be appro- 
priate to a commercial City such as Populonia. 
Those curious in historical analogies may be pleased 
to observe in those " balls " a foreshadowing of 
Medicean rule in Tuscany. The Medici shields with 
" balls " meet us everywhere in Tuscany. 

' The Etruscans have freely introduced heads of Medusa in their 
tombs. The best instance of the kind that I can recall is in the 
famous tomb of the Volumnii a mile or two distant from Perugia. 
Yet perhaps the most masterly representation of a Medusa's head 
may be seen on the base of the famous bronze lamp in the collec- 
tion at Obrtona. 

12 



CHAPTER XII 

COSA 

We have done now with Grosseto as a centre of 
Etruscan Cities, and to visit the site of ancient Cosa 
we have to betake ourselves to Orbetello. An 
a.ccessible station enough on the main hne, but the 
town, where perforce we have to lodge, lies some 
distance away, and it will be necessary to order a 
Carriage to meet you at the Station from the little 
Delia Rosa Inn in Orbetello, otherwise you may 
find yourself stranded for an hour or so in a very 
inhospitable and dreary spot. Orbetello itself is not 
an inviting towii. It must be allowed that it does 
not pretend to be. Yet as it possesses an Inn quite 
equal to the needs of a night or two, and as com- 
manding the approach to the attractive and even 
beautiful Monte Argentario, there is a certain degree 
of animation and interest visible in the streets of 
the town. Yet if not an inviting town at present, 
two hundred years ago only the Spaniards found it 
go desirable a possession that they made of it a 
very strongly fortified position. The defences still 
remain, and coming from the station along a narrow 
and most dreary road you at length drive through 
an imposing gateway of Charles II., or Phihp III., 
surmounted by an escutcheon with the Spanish arms 

178 



COSA 179 

finely carved, boldly designed, and of singular fresh- 
ness. It is certainly a sidelight upon Italian history 
to learn that the Spaniards were here in possession 
so recently as 1707. The Spaniards here must have 
been jso often reminded of Gibraltar as their eyes 
fell upon Monte Argentario, A sorrowful retrospect 
it must have been for them latterly, for Rooke 
captured Gibraltar in 1704 and the Spaniards were 
still here in 1709. 

This gateway cleared you pass through the town 
to another Spanish Gate, and find yourself upon the 
shore of a large salt-water insalubrious lagoon con- 
nected with the great picturesque headland of Monte 
Argentario by two long narrow tongues of land. So 
thin and slight are these bands uniting Orbetello 
to Monte Argentario that you wonder how time has 
allowed them to remain. They are, however, so 
effectually protected from the inroads of the sea 
by the great Gibraltar-like mountain in front of 
you, that little labour is required to keep them in 
working order. 

It is at this Southern point of Orbetello that you 
come upon the famous Pelasgian walls, — the sea-walls 
which protected the ancient City, whatever may have 
been its name, upon the Lagoon, from any possible 
attack proceeding from Monte Argentario. This, then, 
is the position of Orbetello. 

I do not observe any traces of ancient ^remains 
other than these extremely aged walls within the 
City. Nor are there signs of mediaeval occupation, 
excepting the Gates and also a pretty Gothic Arch of 
the modernised Cathedral, which proclaims itself 
to be of the 14th Century in an inscription in 
Latin " to the magnificent Lord Palatine Nicholas 
Orsini." The ancient Pelasgian walls referred to 
deserve special attention from those curious upon 



180 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

the subject of ancient masonry. They consist of 
massive polygonal blocks piled together in the ancient 
manner without cement. I believe them to be the 
only instances of the pure so-called Pelasgian style 
in this part of the country. For at Cosa and 
Rusellse we find the style accompanied with Etruscan 
masonry. Here that is not the case. 

That Orbetello was ever the Port of Cosa, or 
the site of the Etruscan Necropolis of that City is, 
I cannot help thinking, most doubtful. Yet Mr. 
Dennis, whose authority in assigning sites and cities 
to the Etruscans can never be disregarded, was of 
opinion that Orbetello was an Etruscan site. Mr. 
Dennis, in forming that opinion, was influenced — 
and very logically so — by the fact of valuable dis- 
coveries having been made in Etruscan tombs upon 
the mainland upon that narrow dusty road which we 
traversed when driving from the Railway Station. It 
is possible that the Etruscans may have been here 
before they built their great City of Cosa some 
five miles away, yet it is not very probable. It is 
possible also that they may have built the Tombs 
referred to after they were in possession of Cosa. 
Yet I think it more probable that it was the Race 
that built the Pelasgian walls which occupied Orbe- 
tello, and that Race to be also responsible for the 
adjacent tombs. Shall we hazard another conjecture 
and suggest that the Etruscans may have been here 
for a very short time, and then scared away by 
the pestilential air of the lagoon went off and erected 
Cosa upon a more salubrious site, for the Etruscans 
were nothing if not hygienic. 

Cosa, or rather " Cusa," as the Etruscans would 
have called her, or Cossa, as Strabo and other writers 
of old time called her (Ansedonia is her present 
appellation), occupies a hill 600 feet in height about 



COSA 181 

five miles to the South-East of Orbetello. A very 
modest height that, in comparison with the grand 
promontory of Monte Argentario, but sufficiently high 
to give the City a distinctive and prominent character, 
and above all to place her far above the malarious 
zone. You can either row across the lagoon or 
drive to the ancient site. It is more convenient 
to take the latter course, for thus you can be put 
down at the base of the isolated hill on which the 
City stands. Some sort of guide to the ruins will 
easily jbe found here. It is on the Civita Vecchia 
Road, and therefore fairly frequented by the in- 
habitants of the district. Without some one 
acquainted with the paths through the copses 
through which you thread your way, you might 
possibly get on the wrong track. The willing 
countryman who presented himself was quite com- 
petent not to do that, and conducted us to a singu- 
larly well preserved paved road i leading directly 
to one of the gates of the ruined City. The general 
form of Cosa is that of an irregular quadrangle, 
the walls being of about a mile in circuit. " These 
walls " — I quote from " Murray's Guide " 2 — " exhibit 
two distinct kinds of masonry, the uppet portion 
being in horizontal courses like those of the 
Etruscan Cities generally, the lower being of huge 
polygonal masses of limestone fitted together with 
the utmost nicety (as at Orbetello) and without 
cement. The walls vary in height from 12 to 
30 ft. and in thickness from 5 to 6 ft. At intervals 
they are strengthened by towers from 20 to 40 ft. 
square, fourteen of which can still be traced, no 
less than eleven occurring on" the two sides which 

' Micali wrote that this road connected with the Via AureHa. 
' Murrays Guide, "Central Italy," p. 219. I think that Murray 
has over-estimated the number of traceable towers. 



182 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

facied the sea, and were therefore more open to 
attack." 

It may be added to this note an the Towers that 
they consist of horizontal masses generally, amd that 
the walls rise several feet above the enclosure. Upon 
the Eastern side as much as 15 feet. That is 
unusually high for an Etruscan walled City. In 
some portions, the walls have an inward inclination, 
which perhaps may have appeared to some writers 
as an argument for a later construction. The City 
had three gates apparently, each of them double. 
One upon the Northern side and one upon the South 
and Eastern sides respectively. Careful investiga- 
tion would very likely discover one upon the iWest. 
These gates are in no case arched, nor did I perceive 
any sign of an arch anywhere in the ruins. These 
massive gates rise to a height of quite 20 feet 
and are perfectly perpendicular. The lintels are 
quite gone. Some think that they were of wood. 
I should doubt that, considering the massive and 
substantial character of everything here. And to 
the Etruscans a lintel of stone, where the space to 
be covered was not excessive, would not have been 
a serious consideration. 

The Arx or Citadel must have occupied the plateau 
upon the South-East, and at this point the extent of 
the city and the strength of it, and the varied style 
of the masonry can fully be taken in. The ground 
has been much cleared in this part, and there are 
many traces of excavations — pits and trenches now 
overgrown with bush and shrub. Here I suppose the 
Romans built also, for I observed fragments of build- 
ings which may be attributed to them rather than 
to the occupiers of the site in the middle ages. 
It (is rather strange, the site having been occupied 
up to comparatively recent times, that SQ littlQ of 
the history of Cosa is known to us. 



COSA 183 

Yet it is with Cosa as with all the Etruscan Cities. 
Thq Romans, with the texception of some of the 
more cultivated writers, seemed to have decreed that 
Etruria was not only to be pooh-poohed, but scarcely 
to be nlention'ed. To be put into Coventry like an 
improper relative. Their predecessors in the occu- 
pation of Italy were to be ignored and tabooed. 
Nothing existed or had any right to fexist before 
Rome was. It is from a Greek writer, Dionysius of 
Halicarnassus, that we have learned most of what we 
can be said to know about Etruria, although I do not 
think that he has told us anything about Cosa. 

Pliny has certainly mentioned the City, which he 
styles '* Cossa Volcientium." The City is supposed, 
therefore, to have been a Colony from Vulci (I sup- 
pose |not /more than fifteen miles away). We get 
more information about her great antiquity from 
Virgil (what should we do without Virgil merely as 
an antiquarian !). 

The Poet in his '^neid represents the City as send- 
ing six hundred men to assist !/Eneas. He has also 
mentioned ^ther Etruscan cities in the same con- 
nection. Cosa is generally enumerated among the 
Twelve Cities of Central Etruria', yet her importance 
as such is much qualified by the supposition that 
she did not attain that greatness until after the fall 
of Falerii.i If that be the case she had not a long 
reign, for we find Cosa a; Roman Colony, A.u.C. 481, 
or 272 B.C. 

Much dissension has prevailed — chiefly among the 
Italian 2 Antiquaries — as to the antiquity of the City. 
' Falerii was reduced by Camillus, 394 B.C., and destroyed by the 
Romans, 241 B.C. The second event was accelerated by the Battle 
of the Valdimonian Lake, which virtually decided the fate of 
Etruria. 

= The reasoning starts thus. Cosa is of comparatively late date 
as an Etruscan City, yet the walls — the lower portions — are of the 



184 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Those supporting a less ancient construction urge 
that the polygonal masonry employed does not neces- 
sarily imply the presence here of pre-Etruscan 
builders. That there is no proof that the Etruscans 
never availed themselves of the polygonal style. 
That the nature of the stone must often have deter- 
mined the shape of the blocks. The stone employed 
here — it may be answered — is just the same, lime- 
stone and travertine, as that at Rusellag. Those 
materials there certainly did not determine the shape 
of the blocks, for the Etruscans then worked them 
into vertical masses, which implies the less obvious 
and imore laborious method. And it has been 30 
here jn the greater part of the walls. And that 
it was the older Race who preferred the polygonal 
masonry is an argument I think very apposite in 
the (nearly contiguous instance at Orbetello. All 
the information we possess upon the subject of 
ancient walls in Italy, and every analogy that can 
be ^deduced from experience, point very clearly to 
the Etruscans having worked stone in: one mode and 
their predecessors in another mode. 

Cosa may be considered topographically as a 
sister-city to Populonia. She enjoyed natural advan- 
tages similar to those of the latter City. She, too, 
stood upon a height and commanded a lagoon which 

older or polygonal construction. Micali hence argues that the 
polygonal walls cannot be considered necessarily anterior to the 
Etruscan style. " Yet " (it has been answered to that argument) " it 
seems easier to suppose that Cosa was an ancient Pelasgian City, 
re-occupied and added to by the Etruscans, than that they should 
have retrograded from a more advanced to a less advanced style of 
building. It is, I think, very clear in the instance of Cosa, that there 
were here two distinct races of builders. And lit would not be 
exceeding ithe fair limits of an assumption to suggest that it was 
that same people who built the Polygonal walls round Orbetello 
who commenced the City of Cosa." 



COSA 185 

may be regarded as her Bay of Baratti. Her true 
Port — the Portus Herculis, — it is true, was further 
away. You may catch gHmpses of it through the 
young copses which surround the City, over there 
upon the South-East of Monte Argentario. Cosa 
thus |Was so happily situated, that from this Port 
she could carry on a trade in copper and iron with 
Elba just as Populonia did from her Port of Baratti. 
And just as the Portus Herculis does at this hour. 
I do not know whether Cosa was equally absorbed 
in the tunny fisheries which at present largely engross 
the energies of the modern fishermen and boatmen 
of the harbour. I have said but little of Monte 
Argentario, for these pages are chiefly concerned with 
the lantiquities of Etruria, and it is not considered 
that Monte Argentario came into the sphere of 
Etruscan settlements. Yet for the tourist Monte 
Argentario offers a' delightful field for excursion upon 
horse or on foot, and also, had you time and inclina- 
tion, for sailing round about the promontory. The 
lie of the ground, the varied scenery and the rich- 
ness of the soil. In many ways I was much reminded 
of the Island of Ischia. The rich and verdant 
pastures embosomed amid wooded vales, the undu- 
lating hills here clothed with abundant and varied 
timber, — ^and there cleared and already green with 
crops or swelling into eminences of more than 
respectable height and finally uniting into the two 
fine peaks of Monte Argentario at a height of over 
2,000 feet. 

The two Ports of Monte Argentario are also well 
worthy of visits. The Etruscan Port — the Portus 
Herculis upon the South-East of the Promontory — has 
been referred to above. The other Port, known as 
that of Santo Stefano, is upon the North. The latter 
was Ichiefly in favour with the Spanish occupiers 
and fortified by them. 



186 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

At Santo Stefano, in fact, one could put up much 
more enjoyably than at Orbetello. It possesses twice 
the population, has a much more varied and cheer- 
ful outlook, — sen joys picturesque views, and, above all, 
good air, and with all apologies to Orbetello, one 
cannot deny that her breezes are not of the purest. 

And to have been at Cosa I That, if not a liberal 
education is to have inhaled a more liberal air : 
a traveller here will have experienced that. Few 
places anywhere more powerfully stir the imagina- 
tion. It is so isolated, so lovely, so ruinous, and 
yet so fresh. The stone is so white that the work- 
man's tool seems still upon it. The Place seems 
even to givje a responsive note to the blackbird's 
pipe or to the throstle's joyous quaver as their melody 
shoots out of yon thicket. Time has shaken and 
man has defaced, yet their combined efforts have not 
effaced the noble simplicity of the design. The 
strenuous efforts of two races of builders are visible 
yet. One could people it with shadowy forms of 
citizens and soldiers. 

And to the present writer Cosa seems, if pathetic, 
as every considerable mass of solitary ruin must ever 
be, — the most imposing monumtent in Italy that has 
been left to us as a witness of the vivacious but 
too silent Past. 



CHAPTER XIII 

VULCI 

The site of Vulci is easily acctessible to us now. 
When you are visiting the much more famous 
Etruscan City of Tarquinii (Corneto-Tarquinia) you 
have only to reniember that Vulci is within a drive 
of sixteen miles. Or, if you prefer keeping to the 
railway line, that Montalto — the station nearest Vulci 
— is next to that of Corneto-Tarquinia. Montalto is 
not exactly a centre of civilisation, and rarely if ever 
visited by a vetturino, but you will find the morning 
mail-cart quite at your disposal to transport you to 
the village of Montalto three or four miles distant. 
There, the obliging official who has already driven 
you, will again place his services at your disposal 
He will provide a light country cart and rattle you 
along over the Piano di Vulci in less than an hour. 
The road is not much to speak of. It is indeed but 
a country track. Yet unless it has happened to have 
rained heavily, no difficulties will have to be en- 
countered. 

" Easily accessible " now I But it has not bleen 
always so. Little more than eighty years ago Vulci 
had vanished out of all human recognition, as com- 
pletely as Vetulonia and Veii, and had it not been 
for a fateful pair of oxen slouching perhaps more than 

187 



188 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

usually beneath that irksome yoke of theirs as they 
were ploughing one morning in the year 1828 a.d. 
Vulci might still be to us as Mars. These pre- 
destined bullocks aforesaid, sons of Apis himself they 
must have been, by this historical stumble of theirs, 
crashing through the light arenaceous soil of which 
these plains are formed, revealed to the dazed masters 
of the wain a Tomb. Strange if we think of it, that 
so fateful a stumble had never been made before. 
For over these incessantly -ploughed plains the wains 
of some two thousand years had passed. Thus to 
a pair of struggling bullocks are due the honors of 
the discovery of Vulci. Strange, yet not unprece- 
dented or unparalleled elsewhere. For in similar 
fashion it came about that the famous painted Tombs 
near Orvieto known now as the " Sette Camini " were 
revealed. And one remembers, too, in tales of the 
" Arabian Nights," how great subterranean treasures 
were brought to light through the humble agency of 
the bovine racfe. 

Strange it was, as I remarked, that to two such 
unreasoning ministers of fate was confided the mission 
of recovering for us a long-lost City I One involun- 
tarily recalls the humble ass that recognised the 
angel when Balaam the prophet could not. And 
moreover, we never had been altogether without 
a clue to Vulci. The wind-swept moor which we 
ares surveying had long ago been styled Piano di 
Vulci. And a great monumental tumulus, — an in- 
destructible witness to the Past, — had always domi- 
nated the plain as it dominates now. And the science 
of Etruscology being as it was, by no means in an 
inanimate condition at the commencement of the 
19th Century, — quite otherwise, indeed, and becom- 
ing a very fervid, not to say a very fast and furious 
tournament amongst professors, — one does marvel 



VULCI 189 

that no potent, grave, and reverend Signor should 
ever hav^e settled down here and drawn forth his pick 
and shovel. It may easily be surmised, how this 
chance stumble of a bullock sent thrills through the 
veins of all the Archaeologists of Europe. And thrills 
too, and spasms of quite another kind, — an epidemic 
rather, of the " auri sacra fames " throughout the 
district. Of picks and shovels now — and wielded by 
the hands of the ignorant and greedy and grasping 
— 'there were enough and far too many. For as tomb 
after tomb was laid bare revealing the inestimable 
treasures of Greek ceramic ware, surpassing the 
dreams of Arch^ologists, — but very far beneath the 
just expectations of the avaricious, — such scenes of 
rabid destructiveness were displayed as seem quite 
incredible to our more civilised and enlightened 
generation. A sort of crusade of smashing and 
crashing terra-cotta wares was developed. Vases 
and other articles of a fragile nature were wantonly 
smashed, — not only because they were valueless in 
the eyes of these modern barbarians, but also from 
a dog-in-the-manger spirit that none should have the 
benefit of them should they prove valuable in the 
eyes of others. The greediness of these excavators 
demanded gold, silver, gems, and such like^; — jobjects 
prosaically and immediately negociable. An ancient 
tomb meant a gold-mine, what was the use of those 
other things there? Rubbish that had been placed 
there to put them off the scent ; to mislead or to 
conceal. Away with everything that stood in the path 
of the gold-hunter ! 

Fortunately, the then owner of Vulci — the Prince of 
Canino — was a man of enlightenment, and also, being 
a Buonaparte, not without his share of energy. And 
so far as in him lay he was able in some measure to 
curb the destructive propensities of his ravening 



190 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

navvies. But not Lucien Buonaparte, any more than 
his masterful brother, could be ubiquitous (one 
remembers the great Conqueror saying — when a 
marshal of his had failed to achieve success, " I 
cannot be everywhere "). What we, — what the men 
of 0,rtistic proclivities may have been deprived of 
by these insensate ravages of half -demented workmen 
will never be computed. But that the work of plunder 
and devastation was effectually checked in time is 
attested by the extraordinary abundance of the beau- 
tiful vases that have been rescued. Excavations were 
continued for forty years, either under the family of 
Canino or their successors (for the property long 
ago passed to another family). During that period 
more than six thousand tombs were exposed (there 
is not one open to inspection at the present moment) 
and the result has been that there's not a Museum in 
European Capitals that has not been enriched — not 
to mention private collections, — by specimens of every 
epoch of Greek ceramic ware. From its commence- 
ment to its culminating point and thence again to 
its, decadence. I 

! The Potteries of Corinth and Athens and Rhodes, 
those also of Magna Grsecia and of Etruria herself, 
all of them contributed to the inexhaustible demands 
of old Vulci. Vases purely Etruscan have nowhere 
been numerous, yet more specimens have been found 
here than in any other Etruscan site. 

Our drive over the plains of Vulci has already 
traversed much of the Necropolis, and upon arriving 
in sight of the great tumulus of the Cucumella 
Tomb we naturally descend to take our bear- 

' A majority of the Vases unearthed at Vulci consists of the 
Archaic Attic severe style. Those of the black figures upon a 
yellow ground. There are fewer of the Doric style, but many of 
those are painted with the " eye " sign. 



VULCI 191 

ings and to obtain a general idea of Vulci and 
its surroundings. And to do so best is to clamber 
up the much damaged but still dominating tumulus 
of the Cucumella Tomb. You are there in the 
centre of the Necropolis, with a wide and rather 
grim expanse of scrub -grown plain around you, yet 
diversified by many a hillock and by small tumuli. 
Each excrescence represents a filled-up sepulchre or 
a forsaken excavation. To the East a sea of wheat 
surrounds, and sometimes encroaches upon this terri- 
tory dedicated to the tombs and somewhat warms up 
a scene that seemed to lack warmth — if one could 
say that of any scene in Italy beneath an Italian sun 
in the month of May. 

At about two hundred yards from the Cucumella - 
tumulus the Western limits of the Necropolis are very 
unmistakably defined by the headlong career of a 
river called the Flora (the Arminia of Etruscan and 
Roman times). This clamorous river bursting its 
way through precipitous cliffs, and washing the base 
of the great headland over there to the North -East, — 
six miles distant — called Monte Canino, rushes down 
through its picturesque gorges to the Piano di Vulci 
and exactly bisects the plain ; the rather higher 
plateau upon the right bank being that of the site 
of the City of Vulci, and that upon the slightly lower 
level on the left bank being the Necropolis. The 
entire territory of the Piano di Vulci at the present 
day may roughly be compressed into three great 
holdings or tenures known as Tenuti di Ponte Sodo, 
di Castellucia di Vulci, and di Campo Morte. The 
Ponte Sodo, over the stream called Timone, was 
crossed two or three miles off upon your road to 
Vulci. The names of the other tenements explain 
themselves. The City of Vulci was about two miles 
in circuit. Her defences, such as they were, have 



192 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

been traced, but no traces are visible now. The walls 
should have been higher and stouter than anywhere 
else, for a position weaker and more indefensible 
could not have been selected. iWhen one remembers 
how very wary the Etruscans showed themselves 
always in the choice of sites for their Cities, when 
one thinks of Cortona and Perugia and Orvieto and 
Tarquinia, e.g., one marvels how they could have 
settled down upon these defenceless moors. And a 
few miles off there were Monte Canino and Musiguano 
quite at their service. It is true that here they had 
the sea only seven miles off and that the Arminia 
may have been navigable, — but those considerations 
were quite secondary. One must attribute their 
having chosen to erect a City here to one of those 
temporary aberrations of intellect with which nations 
as well as individuals are sometimes stricken, " Quern 
deus vult perdere primus dementat." Was it so 
here? ' i 

If it be true that the happiest nation is that which 
has no history, Vulci should have been happy, for 
there seems to be but one recorded fact, and that 
one of her latest hour. She seems to have allied her- 
self with Tarquinii in a defensive league against 
Rome. Tarquinii was the first to suffer for her pre- 
sumption. The Romans having disposed of her, the 
Roman Consul of the day, Titus Coruncanius, ap- 
peared before the walls of Vulci, and not meeting, 
it seems, with any opposition summarily fexpunged 
her. From that moment her name ceased to exist. 
Cicero's euphonious words when he had disposed of 
the chief actors in the conspiracy of Catiline might 
form the epitaph of Vulci ; " They have lived ! " 
That the Romans settled here for a time at least 
is attested by the remains of some baths, a temple, 
and by portions of the fine bridges close at hand 



VULCI 193 

called the Ponte della Badia. The Etruscans are 
represented only by their sepulchres' : the only 
monuments that exist to tell us that there was an 
Etruscan people once upon a time, and those tombs 
have seen a Roman Empire die out, and how many, 
more empires? 

The Cucumella Tomb has always formed the 
" lion " of Vulci. Its exposed position and still 
considerable height render it so still. For ages it 
must have proved a very Pharos, lighting the noc- 
turnal plunderer to his work of spoliation. When the 
Prince of Canino, the first-recorded investigator of 
the Tomb, took in hand the excavations, it was found 
that intricate and extensive as the chambers and 
passages were, very little of any value had been 
left within. In the heart of the mound were un- 
earthed two towers or remains of them, — about 30 ft. 
in height . One of them was square, the other conical, 
both of rude masonry consisting of uncemented hori- 
zontal blocks. These two towers were surmounted 
by sphinxes. At the foot of the towers were two 
chambers to be entered by a long passage. Two 
stone sphinxes again guarded the entrance of the 
passage. The chambers and the doorways were 
arched in the " false " arch fashion of the Regolini- 
Galassi Tomb at Cccre. A wall of masonry encircled 
the base of the sepulchre. Nothing was found within 
beyond some thin fragments of gold and bronze, 
which probably had been dropped or overlooked by 
the plunderers. As to the " false " arches which have 
been mentioned, when I was clambering over the 
grass -grown and irregular masses of this great ruin 
I came across, half -buried in the debris, the mouth of 
a small " true " arch. The fentrance was half -choked 
by earth which rendered an examination of the in- 
terior impossible. So that I am inclined to believe 

13 



194 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

that that portion must be of later construction. The 
position of the Towers can still be defined and the 
remains of one of them, formed of tufa blocks, is 
still in situ. 

At this moment (grass -grown and buried in briar) 
the: Tomb presents the appearance of a much can- 
nonaded and abandoned field-fortress, so shattered 
and undermined it has been from repeated excava- 
tions. And yet, so complicated its construction, so 
intricate its passages, so labyrinthine and so vast 
that it is very possible that the central chamber has 
yet to be discovered. It deserves to be called the 
Sphinx of Vulci rather than the " lion." 

Mr. Dennis found a resemblance in this Tomb to 
that of Alyattes, King of Lydia at Sardis. The Tomb 
of Aruns near Albano is somewhat of the same type. 
Another analogy has been found in the Tomb of 
Lars Porsena at Clusium as described by Varro. 
Varro never saw that Tomb, it will be remembered -; 
" nor was it possible that any man could ever have 
beheld ^ creation so utterly and fantastically im- 
possible," as Niebuhr said of it in his wrath. ^ 

Close to the " Cucumella " are the remains pi 
another very much smaller tomb, a humble satellite 
it seems, for it was known as " La Cucumelleta," and 
Contained five chambers. Some would derive the 
name of Cucumella from an Etruscan local celebrity, 
" Lavis Cucuma." Yet, as the word in Central Italy 
means a hillock or mound, we need scarcely peek 
further for the signification. Another small tumulus 

^ Very strangely and incomprehensively, a closer counterpart to 
this Etruscan tomb, and to others of the same type, may be 
found in the Buddhist Dagobas of Ceylon — of those especially at 
Anurhadapura. They have precisely the same conical earthen 
tumulus, and the same circular enclosure of masonry around the 
base. 



VULOI 195 

in the vicinity, — named La Rotonda and also encircled 
by blocks of massive masonry, will not now repay even 
scrambling over, and yet it yielded some of the most 
beautiful vases discovered at Vulci. 

A famous tomb in Vulci opened in 1839, and one 
that will especially interest an English visitor, the 
greater portion of the trouvaille having been trans- 
ferred to the British Museum, is that named Polledrara 
or '* Isis." " Polledrara " is the name of the farm; 
in which it is situated, in the Tenuto di Ponte Sodo. 
"' Isis " it was called because of the Egyptian 
character of most of the contents, some of them being 
fashioned in the similitude of Isis. Two flasks of 
a pale green porcelain form generally known as 
Pilgrim-bottles and decorated with Egyptian hiero- 
glyphics may undoubtedly be considered as Egyptian 
work. Two bronze cars — used as incense -braziers — 
and similar to those found at Csere, upon the other 
hand, may safely be attributed to the Etruscans. Two 
pstrich eggs decorated with painted reliefs will be 
especially noted as importations from abroad, and 
also because similarly decorated eggs have been found 
in a Mycense tomb. They seem to have had a special 
attraction for the Etruscans, for other eggs have been 
found in Etruscan tombs. An Egyptian coin found 
in the Tomb will be considered to be very strong 
evidence that the contents of it were Egyptian 
imports. Possibly the two ladies, whose busts were 
fbund in the tomb, — (we may presume that they 
were the occupants of it) — were votaries of Egyptian 
art, or some admirer may have told one of them; 
that she reminded him much of the portraits of Isis. 
Isis must have been singularly uncomely, for nothing 
in the way of unattractiveness could exceed the sharp 
prosaic character of the heads and features of these 
ladies. One statuette is of bronze, the other is pf 



196 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

stone — or it may be of marble. The artist has treated 
them both with relentless realism. Yet the bronze 
lady, — ;who is by the way extremfely decolletee\ — 
wears a self-satisfied smirk which must have proved 
quite exasperating to her admirers — if she ever had 
any. But the reader, when he goes to the British 
Museum, may be able to satisfy himself upon that 
point. It is the pedestal supporting this sad coquette 
which possesses the chief artistic interest and which 
must have proved a labour of love for the artist when 
satiated with trying to do justice to the features pf 
the jelderly flirt who was to be placed upon it fori 
ever. This is formed of thin plate of hammered 
work in relief and then carefully finished off with 
the chisel. The reliefs represent a procession of 
lions ,and sphinxes and other mythological animals 
peculiar to Eastern art. It is very much to be 
noted that this style of bronze work was revived 
in Italy in the 13th Century. A notable instance 
is Jo ibe seen in the statue of Boniface VIII at 
Bologna. Mr. Dennis it was, who drew attention 
to this curious fact. 

I rather think that a helmet encircled by a gold 
wreath also came from this Tomb. It is placed with 
the rest of the trouvaille in the British Museum. 
(There were also some vases in the Tomb, the best of 
fwhich was a Hydria in black ware with designs in 
red, blue, and white. The subject treated was that 
of " Theseus slaying the Minotaur." An elaborately 
carved ivory spoon was also one of the objects found. 
There being but one, causes you to think that spoons 
were objects of veneration rather than for daily use. 
I have no doubt but that the people of Vulci practised 
iboth cremation and inhumation of the dead. Yet 
there are grounds for believing that the latter process 
prevailed ■; several skeletons or remains of them have 
been found, and cinerary urns are rare. 



VULCI 197 

In pne tomb opened by Campanari in 1835 the 
skeleton of a soldier was found with his helmet on his 
skull, a ring on his finger, and his shield near him. 
In an adjacent chamber was found a child's skeleton. 
His toys were with him. 

So busied one was with taking the field of opera- 
tions ;and trying to fix the sites of the Tombs and 
i;heir names that one was scarcely conscious of a 
battlemented mediaeval Tower arising out of a field 
of wheat and close at hand. Lonely and picturesque, 
it seemed to demand some sort of recognition of its 
picturesqueness. It had, too, a sort of fame before 
the return from' the dead of the Etruscans. It was 
a stronghold and frontier custom-house in the days 
of Papal temporal power. It stands upon the Flora 
and keeps a tight grip upon that graceful Ponte della 
Badia. It has no mission now but to house, until the 
Malaria sweeps down and sweeps away all vestiges 
of life from the Plain of Vulci, some poverty-stricken 
peasants and their fleas of ages. It is a pity that it 
were not cleaned and washed and fitted-up for the 
accommodation of the antiquarian or the archaeologist, 
as in any other country it would have been. Perhaps 
Ithen it would have been less picturesque, for it is 
thought that dirt is one element of the picturesque. 
It is anyhow striking in its solitude and forlornness. 
It reminds you of the last faithful devoted retainer, 
of a ruined family. We know how it has been with 
the ruined Sir Oliver, representative of an ancestral 
house upon whom disaster has fallen. He has to 
block up his windows and let out the park, to sell 
his horses and to let the garden get on as it best 
can without the gardener. All the servants are dis- 
missed, everything is dismantled. Yet the most 
ancient retainer humbly craves that he may be per- 
mitted to stay on as a caretaker with the ghost of a 



198 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

salary or with no salary at all. So the old faithful 
Adam hobbles daily into the stables, making a pre- 
tence that Jock, and Joe, and Jarvis are still there 
and eating their heads off in their stalls. Or he 
shufHes about the garden-walks and pretends to be 
plucking up the weeds. 

And so this old Papal Warder makes a feint pi 
still being a necessity and of being indispensable to 
the (preservation of the Bridge, — the final arch of 
which he transfers to himself. And he even thinks 
that the foaming and rather impertinent Flora (he 
never knew the river when it was " Arminia ") owes 
much to the Tower for permission to flow beneath 
the arch at all. And as for the babble and chatter 
about Etruscans and Palseoliths and Neoliths and how 
many other races which the river is for ever dinning 
into his ears, — it's a pack of lies. For the Tower 
never heard tell of any such races at all, and there 
never was or has been any true and lawful possessor 
of the Tower and Bridge of Badia and the Plains 
of Vulci, save his Holiness the Pope ! 

Here we must leave the Tower and the River to 
settle their differences as they best can, and con- 
centrate our thoughts for a few minutes upon the 
quite neutral ground of the Ponte della Badia, And 
as we loiter below the parapet, to spell out some of 
its story and a little more of the necrology of Vulci 
also. One lofty pointed arch of 62 feet in span and 
96 feet in height supports a structure which is 243 
feet in length, and carries the roadway far beyond the 
right baftk, where it is supported by an archway. So, 
too, upon the left bank an arch fastens on to the 
Castle which seems here to be almost an adjunct of 
the Bridge. Upon the face of the Bridge upon the 
North are three massive piers of reddish tufo. These 
may be considered to be Etruscan and to have formed 



VULCI 199 

part of the original Bridge, which, having been the 
chief means of communication between the City and 
the Necropolis, must have been incessantly traversed. 

The mass of the Bridge built of small blocks pf 
nenfro, as well as the high pointed arch of travertine, 
may be well attributed to the Romans. The parapets 
of the Bridg'e are singularly high, and unless the 
visitor be of unusual stature shuts out the river from 
him. Through the parapet on the Northern 3ide 
runs an aqueduct which conducted water to the City. 
This aqueduct has been the means of producing a 
remarkably striking effect not contemplated by the 
engineer. In the course of years the water, which 
is 'charged with tartaric matter, has been gushing 
out of the channel and has flung festoons of stalac- 
tites over the Western side of the Bridge. Owing 
to the great height of the arch it is quite a tug up- 
hill to approach the bridge from the road, which, 
of course, led to Vulci. Would that there was more 
to see upon the site of the City ! But really there is 
no sign but a few fragments, and which do not repay 
the labour of seeking, — that a great and walled City 
once flourished there. And wherfe also a second 
Necropolis was situated containing some very re- 
markable painted tombs. Not far, too, from where 
we are standing the site of a pottery furnace was 
discovered. Of course that does not prove that the 
beautiful vases found in Vulci were made here. But 
to run to earth such a: rarity in Etruria seemed a 
coincidence in this particular instance of Vulci. Yet 
if we can behold neither furnace nor tombs to-day, 
we are well supplied by many writers with the details 
af least' of the latter. 

And, moreover, in many of the Museums of Europe 
very faithful repr^oductions of the most famous of 
these paintings may be seen. Notably those of the 



200 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Vatican Etruscan Museum, the Bologna Museum, and 
the British Museum. The painted sepulchre was 
situated high upon the Bank overlooking the Flora 
and about 200 yards from the Cucumella itself. It 
was known as the Francois tomb from the name of the 
discoverer. It consisted of two chambers and was 
approached by a subterranean road or gallery pf 
100 feet in length, which was flanked by the tombs of 
children. It was the central chamber (it had 
a pyramidal roof) which was adorned by the most 
valuable Etruscan paintings that have ever been 
found. One wall was dedicated to a subject of 
Etruscan history, and that in itself gives an interest 
possessed by no other tomb, — the Release of Mastarna 
by Coeles Vibenna. The names of the Protagonists 
are written upon the wall. I suppose this painting 
threw a greater light upon early Roman history than 
any hitherto recorded fact. That Servius Tullius, if 
not an Etruscan, had taken part in Etruscan warfare, 
and that Coeles Vibenna may have been the man to 
give ijiis name to the Coelian Hill at Rome. It is 
supposed now that Servius Tullius brought him to 
Rome when that King succeeded to Lucius Tarquinius 
and bestowed the hill upon him for services rendered. 
I jthink it very clear that in this vigorous, simple, 
realistic painting it was an Etruscan Artist who was 
employed. 

The subject which was represented Upon the 
opposite wall seems also to be by an Etruscan artist, 
although the subject is a story from the Iliad : that 
of Achilles sacrificing Trojans to the Manes pf 
Patroclus. He does so in no grudging spirit. There 
is no doubt of the savage joy with which Achilles 
carries out the mission entrusted to him by Ajax, who 
brings up the victims. And the victims receive their 
fate most submissively, — almost as if they liked it. 



VULCI 201 

Over the " shade " of Patroclus a figure with flow- 
ing hair is writing the word " hinthial," which is 
supposed therefore to mean " Shade." This is quite 
as Etruscan in execution as the Mastarna. The name 
of Agamemnon also appears, but not written quite as 
a Greek a.rtist would have written it. A Charun and 
also winged I sis appear in the composition. 

An almost comic though very bloody duel (between 
Eteocles and Polynices probably), takes place upon 
another wall in the same chamber. The Etruscan 
artists were quite enthusiastic, — I know not why, — 
about this particular subject. Innumerable repre- 
sentations of the Combat upon urns or walls are for 
ever to be met with. 

On either side of the door of this chamber was a 
Nestor and a Phoenix (with their names inscribed) 
each beneath a palm-tree. 

The subject of another painting was Ajax and 
Cassandra at the Altar of Minerva. 

There were other paintings also, but nothing pf 
the peculiar interest which attaches to the Mastarna 
and Coeles Vibenna; picture. 

Also many inscriptions which may refer either to 
the subjects of the paintings, or to the occupants of the 
Tomb, and surmounted by a. frieze composed of 
mythological animals, griffins, sphinxes, wild-beasts, 
bulls, horses, and such like, engaged in a wild pro- 
cession pf devouring each other. There are many 
writers upon Etruscan paintings who see in decora- 
tions of a similar kind a symbolical meaning. They 
refer, — so these writers have imagined, — to the eternal 
struggle between good and evil. Sometimes the 
powers of darkness prevail, sometimes the deer and 
the horses escape. I do not myself believe that the 
Etruscans generally were in favour of parables pr 
symbols in art. I think them to have been a very 



202 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

realistic people and at the same time a very super- 
stitious one, quite believing in these monsters whom 
they figured forth in their paintings and their vases 
and in other productions of theirs. In this Tomb 
were found many sarcophagi and urns. So it is not 
apparent which form of disposal of the Dead may 
have been in favour with the people of Vulci. 

Much Etruscan jewellery was discovered in this 
tomb, a large portion of it being now in the Louvre. 

When the reader comes to study the reproductions 
of these most curious paintings and of others from 
Vulci and Cometo,i he will, I believe, scarcely have 
any doubts as to the Eastern character of them. The 
drapery of the women so plentiful and heavy, and 
yet the material so often transparent. Upon their 
heads the high conical cap (tutulus) in shape 
peculiarly Eastern. Their attitudes and movements 
exactly resemble those of the Indian jiautch -girls. 

In the representation of games, the wrestlers and 
boxers and even the horsemen are quite naked. The 
men who are draped have in some instances the right 
arm exposed. 

The fliute-players, or rather the double-pipe 
players, wear a' sort of short dressing-gown. 

The slaves waiting at the banqueting tables are 
also often entirely naked. One figure, a dancer, is 
quite white, and is very remarkable for gracefulness. 
His drapery is white also. In one painting (I am; 
alluding to the reproductions in the Gregorian Etrus- 
can Museum!) a long " what-not " table with a collec- 
tion of vases, ewers, and basins displayed upon it is 
introduced. 

Other paintings 2 here represent men — quite un- 

' Such reproductions are to be seen in Rome, Florence, and 
Bologna, and, I think, in the British Museum. 
' I am not quite certain that these paintings are from Vulci, or 



VULOI 203 

clothed— riding like women, on steeds without any 
saddles. Beyond is a chariot -race, ladies are upon 
a race-stand. Lads beneath applauding a prelimi- 
nary canter of chariots, and the beau monde, ladies 
and gentlemen, picking out their selections and 
evidently backing them. Altogether a scene of ^ 
prehistorical Ascot. 

Another painting from' the Campanari Tomb iat 
Vulci is reproduced in the British Museum. It repre- 
sents an Etruscan family before the final Tribunal. 
This was the painting 'which fell to pieces when 
Campanari was trying to detach it from the walls. 
He was fortunately able to have it copied before it 
vanished. 

Vulci has been found to be very rich in bronzes, 
bronze-mirrors, candelabra, and weapons, as well as 
in gold ornaments and in jewellery. One of the most 
famous discoveries, — because so rarely found in 
Etruria — was the bronze cista now in the Gregorian 
Etruscan Museum. Cistas have been found in 
numbers at Palestrina (Prseneste), as any one who 
has been to the Barberini Palace at Rome can testify. 
Yet the most famous and beautiful example is among 
the Praeneste treasure at the Kircherian Museum also 
at Rome. Another characteristic discovery at Vulci 
was of two horses' heads in volcanic tufa which 
formed the entrance to a: tomb, and another, a most 
prosaic one, was a pair of bronze clogs with wooden 
linings. These " finds " are also in the Gregorian 
Etruscan Museum. 

The extraordinary number of beautiful vases found 
in Vulci has been commented upon. Probably the 
Vatican Etruscan Museum contains the most valuable. 
A very splendid oenochoe is in the British Museum 

from Chiusi or Corneto, but I here describe them as typical of 
Etruscan pursuits. 



204 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

and was figured in Dennis's " Cities and Cemeteries." 
So extraordinary plentiful a supply of Greek vases 
has been obtained from the Vulci sepulchres, that 
some writers have claimed for Vulci the distinction 
of being a Greek Colony. And further, arguing 
from; the special virtues of the clay native to Vulci, 
and also, perhaps, bearing in mind the discovery of 
a pottery-furnace here, — have declared that a Greek 
Vulci manufactured her vases for herself. It is very 
possible that Vulci did turn out a great many meri- 
torious vases, and certainly thousands for domestic 
use, but unless we concede to her a Greek colony 
which there are no substantial grounds for believing, 
we must suppose that the bulk of these vases were 
imported. All known Etruscan Cities are puzzles. 
Vulci, from her absolute silence, is the greatest puzzle 
of them all. 

There is no doubt but that Malaria is as great a 
pest at Vulci as elsewhere in Italy. But it should not 
be so here, this district being one of the most flourish- 
ing in the way of Agriculture in Mid-Italy. .We are 
generally told that it is in waste places, not in those 
actually cultivated, that malaria obtains. I imagine 
that happy but voiceless Etruria had not this hygienic 
problem to solve. The entire site of Vulci, if not 
all of its Necropolis, is at this season, a mass of 
waving wheat. 

In the immediate vicinity of the Torre della Badia 
the present genius loci appeared to be a jolly sturdy 
lad of the name of Gennaro. He should have been 
in the Agricultural Age, but as a preference seems 
to have been accorded to him, he appeared for us as 
in the Pastoral Age. For, his wattle, round capanna, 
(an exact reproduction' I have every reason to believe 
of the Casa Romuli upon the Palatine hill) was 
surrounded by goats, sheep, and oxen. These, or the 



VULCI 205 

greater part of thetii, it was his lot to lead forth to the 
fresh pastures in the morning and to bring them back 
again to " Sepulchral " Vulci in the gloaming. There 
must be a great lack of native labour here, for 
Gennaro had come all the way from Parma with 
his ibride Gemma to fulfil this mission. I suppose 
she kept hut for him; and brightened up things for 
him upon his nightly return with his sheep and goats, 
&c. They were a bright, lithe, stalwart pair, .and 
Parma should be proud if it cafl produce many pf 
this stamp. And as for their tramp from Parma and 
their tramp back again, they thought nothing of it, 
and were coming again next year (D.V.). And very 
soon^ they would have to pull themselves together 
for the homeward tramp, because the malaria will 
soon be down upon Vulci. 

There is not overabundant labour in Vulci. 
Enough only for Agricultural needs, the shepherds 
being imported as in the instance of Gennaro. When 
the crops are cut everybody decamps, and desolated 
Vulci will be left to the Spirits for six months. But 
Gennaro will be among the first to flee. 

Upon your way back to Montalto, and if you are 
not benighted, and did not do so before, you should 
halt for a few moments as you cross the little bridge 
over the brook — " Timone "■ — at a small mill, Ponte 
Sodo, and see a cavern below hung with stalactites. 
The Ponte Sodo district, as has been mentioned, con- 
tains a large portion of the Necropolis, the PoUe- 
drara being the most notable of its Tombs. 

iWhen you find yourself once more jat Montalto 
remember that you are very near the mouth of that 
joyously careering river, the Fiore or Arminia, which 
tries to waken into life the torpid Piano di Vulci. 



CHAPTER XIV 

C^RE (CERVETERl) OR AGYLLA 

To visit this famous Pelasgic and Etruscan site the 
traveller must descend at the Railway Station of 
Palo. This poor and abandoned little spot repre- 
sents the Pelasgian and Etruscan Alsium. It lies on 
the Rome and Civita Vecchia line, about thirty miles 
from the former, and twenty miles from the latter. 
The visit to the most remarkable Tombs of Caere 
can be accomplished in four or five hours, so that 
the whole journey is well within the day's work. Yet 
any one who has more time at his disposal and is 
desirous of studying more closely the topography 
of the City and the environs thereof should sleep 
at Civita Vecchia. He could not do so at Palo. 

It is quite a six tailes' drive from Palo to Cerveteri. 
The road is indifferent and the horse will probably 
be not much better, so that your vetturino won't set 
you down at Cerveteri much under the hour. As you 
will have to detain the vehicle for your return-journey 
it will give you future peace of mind to come to 
terms with him before making the journey, other- 
wise his exorbitance may give you a mauvais quart 
d'heure later on. You should ask him as you 
start to point out to you the site of the famous 
Regalini-Galassi Tomb, for it is some distance with- 



1 



C^RE (CERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 207 

out the City upon, the right of you, and you will 
perceive (if you are warned) the rude entrance-arch 
glimmering at you from beneath a hill in the midst 
of vineyards. Nothing remains in it now, but fallen 
masonry and rubbish. What great things were in 
it once upon a time will be recalled further on. 

Presently, you will find yourself crossing an un- 
pretentious stream, — [not broader, for instance, than 
the shrunken but monumental ditch, known as the 
Rubicon, in quite another part of Italy. This humble 
thread of water, too, is historical. It bears the 
ominous name of Sanguinara. Your vetturino may 
be implicitly trusted to direct your attention to this 
stream without any promptings upon your part. Few 
Italians there be who will fail to try and curdle 
your blood (and their own too) when the word 
*' sangue " is suggested. If he should succeed in 
giving you a shudder you may console yourself with 
the reflection that such sanguinary allusions are very 
frequent in war-worn Italy. A great battle was 
fought here, perhaps many, though history is silent 
as to the contending parties. The river was dyed 
with blood, hence the nanie.' And your nerve will 
be very speedily restored when, a few steps further 
on, you cross another streamlet bearing the very 
tame title of " Vaccina " (" cow stream "). Yet 
though tame its modern appellation be, it is a very 
Tiber in legendary and romantic association. For 
this is the *' Cagritis Amnis " of Virgil, upon the 
banks of which ^Eneas took his first view of the 
Etruscan Camp which Tarcho — or in Etruscan 
phraseology Tarchu or Tarchna — had pitched. Here 
it was that the godlike hero of the ^neid received 

^ Another instance of such a river occurs near the Lago di 
Trasimeno, the scene of Hannibal's great Victory— "Sanguinetto," 
it is named. 



208 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

from his mother Venus, ' the glittering armour 
wrought by Vulcan. Virgil represents the City of 
Caere as recently governed by Mezentius, his subjects 
being then in open revolt against him. 

The tyrant of Caere, expelled by his exasperated 
subjects, fled the City to join his ally King Turnus 
of the Rutuli. The combined armies of Tarchu and 
-^neas have assembled here to pursue the Tyrant 
under the leadership of the Trojan hero. It was 
upon this occasion that JEnesiS had called upon Cosa 
aod Vetulonia of the Etruscan League to furnish him 
with assistance, as has been mentioned in the account 
of those Cities. One likes to think that Virgil him- 
self came here to verify his topography and to give 
to his " airy nothings, a local habitation and a, 
jiame." One wonders what manner of a City was 
before him in the Augustan age. One supposes but 
a shadow of that which he had had in his prophetic, 
prehistoric soul. And one likes to think, too, that 
there may have been students here not very much 
later and who may have delighted to pore over their 
-^neids and to mark what the great Poet had said 
of their forefathers in the great days of old. They 
would have blessed him for not having uttered one 
depreciatory word of the City of their Ancestors. 

Apd even in Virgil's day it is improbable, although 
overshadowed by the Roman buildings, that the 
ancient Caere would quite have disappeared. For, 
the Romans even when goaded into reprisals, did not 
wreak their vengeance upon the monuments and 
temples of their foes, — never certainly upon the 
tombs. Virgil would certainly have not seen a 
squalid hamlet like that of to -day. 2 And he would 

' Virgil's "^neid," Book VIII. 

= The reader may possibly have admired some fine Statues in 
the Lateran Museum, of Tiberius, Drusus, Germanicus, and 



C^RE (CERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 209 

have been spared the pink Strawberry-Hill Castle- 
villa of the Ruspoli family, which presents itself as 
a burlesque of Etruscan greatness. Village, castle, 
and convent, (for there is also a convent,) occupy a 
corner on the South-West of the ancient site, and 
being enclosed together by a not very ni'ediseval 
wall of their own, will not claimi much attention. 
Yet we shall observe blocks and fragments of old 
Csere utilised in the streets and houses. I suppose 
also that were some of the red stucco with which 
Prince Ruspolis' Villa had been profusely plastered 
removed, we might have a sight of ancient materials. 
It was, when excavating for the foundations of the 
Convent, that the Roman statues alluded to below 
were foundj. I believe that no Etruscan remains, other 
than those of the Tombs, of course, have been found 
— two unimportant reliefs ^ excepted. The name of 
Cerveteri is merely a corruption of Caere Vetus or 
Caere Veteri. For some reason unknown to us the 
inhabitants of the ancient site in the 1 3th Century 
moved off to another spot about three miles hence, 
and gave the name of Caere to their new settlement. 
The retention of the old name misled the antiquaries, 
and for a long time it was supposed that the younger 
village occupied the site of the real C^re. But 
that error has long ago been recognised as such. 
As has been said, there is nothing to claim your 
attention in the village itself. Yet as you pass 

Agrippina, without being aware that Cerveteri was the place of 
their provenance. 

' One of these reliefs is also in the Lateran Museum. I note it 
because, if not Etruscan, it refers to an Etruscan subject. It seems 
to have formed one panel of an altar, and has the effigies of three 
Etruscan cities: Tarquinii, Vetulonia, and Vulci. It is curious — 
Vulci having always been shrouded in such complete obscurity — 
that here too, the first portion of the name has been expunged, the 
latter portion of the name only remaining. 

14 



210 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

through on your way to the Tombs you will involun- 
tarily pause at one spot. Here you will see a little 
intensely moderii terrace or belvedere built out upon 
the extreme Western point of the village as though 
some recent esthetic mason had had in his mind's 
eye the famous story of the Pelasgic Sentinel (and 
the origin of the new name of the City. 

The old tradition — (it will bear repeating) — has 
been related by Strabo. A marching party of 
Etruscan troops approaching Agylla ^ (then the 
Pelasgic pame of the City) demanded the name of 
the place ftom a sentry upon the walls. The sentry 
'(it $eems he was not the first to challenge) replied 
" Kaire "—" Welcome," or " Hail I " He must either 
have been a traitor or a very stupid sentinel. The 
Etruscans, whether they understood the Greek word 
or not, appreciated their welcome, and occupying 
the City forthwith styled it Caere, or rather Ksere 
as it would have been. They certainly should have 
given high office to the accommodating sentry — 
although the story does not go further. But it is 
improbable that they would have allowed him to 
try his hand again at " sentry-go." 

The plan of the ancient City and of its Necropolis 
is very clearly defined. Traces of the walls and 
even |of the gates and posterns still exist. A ravine 
upon the North of the City divides it from the 
Necropolis which in modem parlance is known as 
the Banditaccia. This lies upon a ridge rather higher 
than that occupied by the City. An ideally defen- 
sive position for a City erected upon scarped walls, 

' I have mentioned the derivation of the name of Caere as re- 
ported in the old tradition. Lepsius, on the other 'hand, thinks that 
Caere was the original name and the City Umbrian. Mommsen 
thinks Caere a Phoenician settlement, and that Agylla was a 
Phoenician word meaning "round town." 



C^RE (CERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 211 

while the position of the chief sepulchres and thein 
vicinity to the City, rendered it very accessible to 
the mourners, as also to the modem pilgrims. Most 
of the tombs at present open are close to each other 
and really form sl street, to visit which does not 
entail more labour — ^apart from descent and ascent — 
than you experience, e.g., in the Street ;of Tombs, 
at Pompeii putside the Gate of Herculaneum. As 
your ieyes; wander over the high tablelands, once 
pccupied (by this famous City, you are struck by 
the pastoral character of the scenes around you. 
Undulating and not unverdant downs, here and there 
diversified by hillocks and mounds, suggestive of 
tombs yet unexplored ori of those already ransacked 
and abandoned, — dotting the long expanses of 
pasture, pveil which the sheep are grazing and pn 
which the shepherd's pipe is heard — the pnly sound 
breaking the silence which weighs around. 

Far away to the iWest the ground sinks down to 
the gleaming waters of the Tyrrhene Sea where 
the leye is arrested by one little round tower. It is 
that of Santa Severa> — the ancient Port — Pelasgic and 
Etruscan — of Pyrgi. Famous it was in very old 
days for a igreat temple of Eileithyia (Juno Lucina) 
and for its attack and pillage by Dionysius of 
Syra,cuse 384 B.C. 

The ancient road that led from? C^re to her pprt 
is not far beneath the soil, and portions of it are 
every now and then revealed by agricultural require- 
ments. 

Upon the other side of the .Vaccina river to the 
East the downs and vales swell into; the wooded 
range of " Monte Abatone." Groves most sugges- 
tive these, if Canina, assisted by Virgil, be correct 
in fixing there the site of the sacred Shrine of 
Silvanus, — the Pelasgian Deity of fields and herds. 



212 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

What name this wooded site then bore who shall 
pronounce? The modem name is attributed to the 
fir-trees (" abietes ") once surrounding it. To 
modern antiquaries it is more familiar and interest- 
ing as having formed 2i portion of an outlying part 
of the Caere Necropolis. Some of the most note- 
worthy tombs, — turious for arrangement, design, and 
contents, — lay here. Most of them were concealed 
beneath tumuli, and their entrances of complicated 
construction seemed to defy any attempts at entrance. 

One opened by the Prince Torlonia of the day 
in I S3 5, and named after him, was remarkable for 
the number of the corpses. Fifty -four bodies, which 
for centuries had lain there, were found intact and 
entire at the moment of their discovery. Instantly 
upon the admission of the air, these extraordinarily- 
preserved bodies all vanished as though you had 
blown out a flame. It is almost incredible that bodies 
could exist intact for so many centuries, merely by 
the exclusion of air, and without the employment 
of materials that could preserve them from corrup- 
tion. Yet the fact has been so authoritatively 
vouched for in this and other instances that it is 
not possible to doubt its authenticity. 

A similar instance of a buried warrior at Corneto 
has been often related. 

Note. — In case the reader may have forgotten 
or may not have come across the narrative, I will 
venture to insert it once more as related in Mrs. 
Gray's '-Tour to the Sepulchres of Etruria, 1839 " : 

" Carlo Avolta of Corneto was conducting aii 
excavation at Tarquinia, when he was rewarded 
by an enjoyment which he says was the most 
exquisite of his life, — The discovery of an 
Etruscan monarch with his crown and panoply. 



C^RE (CERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 213 

He entirely confirmed the account which I had 
received in Rome of his adventure with the 
Lucumo on whom he gazed for full five minutes 
from the aperture above the door of his 
sepulchre. He saw him crowned with gold, 
clothed in armour, with a shield, spear, and 
arrows by his side, and extended on his stone 
bier. But a change soon came oyer; the figure, 
it trembled and crumbled and vanished away, 
and iby the time an entrance was effected jail 
that remained was the golden crown and fSi 
'handful of dust with some fragments of the 
arms." 

Upon Monte Abatone two other tombs, known 
respectively as " Delia Sedia and Campana," were at 
that time also to be seen, but now no longer. They 
have long since been suffered to go to ruin and 
their earth and ashes have resolved into the elements. 
Their contents have passed into collections. Two 
relics, however, there were which were not removed. 
One was a fixture, an armchair of familiar jshape 
with a footstool attached hewn out of the rocki ; 
the other was the skeleton of a horse. It was 
suggested that the horse had been slain at his 
master's obsequies. If it were so one wishes to 
attribute the sacrifice to the " untutored mind " of 
the Etruscan dignity who desired that '* his faithful 
horse should bear him company." Of the armchair 
referred to there are other instances in Etruscan 
tombs. Most of the Tombs of the Banditaccia were 
surmJounted by tumuli. In some instances the 
entrances into the tombs — ^iri ordei' to render them 
more secret,— were from above. At the present day 
it has been found more convenient in such cases 
to provide modern entrances with doors and stair- 



214 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

cases. You are thus spared the performance of 
gymnastic feats in the descent of shafts from 
above. You will find groping up and down dark stairs 
upon a, hot spring-day sufficiently fatiguing. You 
have scarcely emerged from out of a Grotta de' Tar- 
quinii than you are plunging down again into ^ 
Grotta; dei Rilieve. The term " Grotta' " is generally 
applied to a Tomb here. It is quite as appropriate 
and sounds more cheerful. It matters not which 
" Grotta " you enter first, for the tombs are well 
together. Perhaps being the abode of ex-royalties, 
it would be more striking historically and more re- 
spectful to select that of the Tarquinii first. iWe 
should have expected to have come upon the last 
resting-place of the Tarquins rather at Tarquinii 
than a.t Caere, Tarquinia being the home of that 
Race. Yet we are fully grateful upon any terms for 
the privilege of saluting aicross long-vanished aeons 
a name so illustrious and so familiar to the years 
of our boyhood. Tarchu himself, to whom' we were 
just now alluding, perhaps may repose here. As 
you make your descent into this Tomb the enclosing 
walls should be noticed, for they are good and well- 
preserved examples of the Etruscan style of masonry. 
The descent accomplished and the threshold clear, 
you fimd yiourself in a chamber surrounded by benches 
hewn out of the tufa-rock. This room does not 
contain lany relics of the Tarquins. You therefore 
turn to another flight of steps which lands you upon 
a lower level into a more spacious and loftier apart- 
ment : nearly square, with a. moulded roof, and sup- 
ported by two substantial pillars, all hewn out of 
the tufa. Upon each side of the Tomb is a bench 
formed of the rock, and slightly elevated above the 
level of the floor. Above these benches are thirteen 
recesses (Cut into the walls. Benches and recesses 



C^RE (CERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 215 

alike were shelves for the dead. Walls, columns, 
and jniches are all stuccoed, and upon the stucco 
thirty-five inscriptions in black or red paint have 
been .deciphered, each of them being some form of 
the name Tarquin. Startling ly fresh these inscrip- 
tions are as though they had been traced yesterday, 
and written in those large spra,wling Etruscan 
characters which remind you of bad stitching, or 
of the pothooks and hangers which adorn an infantine 
copy-book. Yet, if this be your first introduction 
to Etruscan caligraphy, your blood seems to be 
stirred, almost as if you were trying to decipher 
a " Mene mene tekel " upon the walls of a Bel- 
shazzar's banquet -hall. I thought that the tallow 
dip in the grasp of the familiarised Guide even 
seemed to tremble as he was showing' off' the resting- 
place, — ^perhaps of his own forefathers. You almost 
expect him to conjure up the shade of Tarchu who 
may have been reposing here,— if not in the fiesh, in 
a fairly recognisable form of it, — not so very long ago 
too, for the sepulchre was only discovered in 1845. 
It is very worthy of note that some of these inscrip- 
tions are in the Latin form. Thus, " Aule Tarchnas 
Larthal Clan," in Latin characters, may be further 
Latinised into *' Aulus Tarquinius Larthal " — " Born 
of Larthia." " Al" is regarded as " Natus " (Lanzi), 
" Clan " said tO' mean " son." Much stress is laid 
by antiquaries upon the supposed fact that the 
mother's name generally occurs in the epitaph. » 

* From its frequent recurrence in funeral inscriptions "Clan" has 
been conjectured to be "son." The above "Larthal" is conjectured 
in the first portion to be a form of "Lars" or "Lar,'' signifying, as 
in "Lars Porsena," Lord. Here, then, it would be simply "lady" or 
" ladyship " — the other name to be assumed as one of the Tarquin 
family. The "Al," as has been mentioned above, is considered to 
mean "natus" — "born of." 



216 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Etruscan forms and derivatives from the original 
root-word of " Tarch," which have been found in- 
scribed in this Tomb and in others, are very 
numerous. Tarchu, Tarchna, Tarchnal, Tarchi, 
Tarchio, even Tarchisa, which is supposed to be 
the feminine form, all, it is alleged, occur. It is 
possible, but then you must be sure of your letters. 
And Etruscan is, so far as I have seen, a rather 
shifty tongue, and time does alter the letters even 
of the best preserved inscriptions. There is but little 
ornamentation upon the walls of this tomb. A 
painted wreath here. A painted shield there. A 
few legs of couches or footstools introduced to give 
a more reposeful effect to the recesses wherein the 
bodies were laid. In the roof between the columns 
a shaft was introduced for the admission of the 
defunct Tarquinii, and finally closed with a stone 
slab when the tomb was considered to be full. Thus 
the tomb was entered in two different modes. It 
cannot be doubted that this tomb is of very great 
antiquity and must have been used for centuries. 
The Latin inscriptions in this tomb do not neces- 
sarily indicate a very late date. Moreover, even 
in Latin the name retains its Etruscan form of 
" Tarchu " and is a presumptive evidence of great 
antiquity. I 

It is believed that Tarquinius Superbus and his 
family sought shelter at Caere after their expulsion 
from Rome. Probably after the first expulsion ; 
for after the Battle of Lake Regillus which decided 
the fate of the family for ever, it seems agreed 
that Tarquini betook himself to Cumas. It is easy 
to comprehend that the last Tar quins would have 
preferred Caere rather than Tarquinii as a residence. 
For Tradition affirms that the son of Demaratus, 
' Dennis, "Cities and Cemeteries," vol. i, p. 244. 



0-^RB (CBRVETERI) OR AGYLLA 217 

who was to rule over Rome as Tarquinius Priscus, 
was either [compelled to leave his native city or 
abandoned it in a " huff." So much for the Tarquins 
and their family -vaults . 

Back to back with this sepulchre we find the so- 
called Grotta deir Alcova lying beneath a tumulus. 
The Tomb has derived its name from the apse -like 
alcove which is the prominent feature at the extremity 
of the Grotta. tWithin the recess hewn out of the 
rock lies a couch resting upon decorated legs, with 
cushions and pillars and a footstool, all carved out 
of the rufa. Being wide enough for two bodies, it 
may be supposed to be that of husband and wife. 
They have left no traces of their existence but their 
skulls and their dust. The roof of the tomb is carved 
into beams and rafters and is supported by two 
fluted columns and by pilasters, all with capitals and 
mouldings of a pecuHarly Etruscan character. The 
tomb, generally, gives the idea of being a repro- 
duction of a dwelling-place or even of a Temple. 
It is therefore of extreme value in that way. 
Abutting upon these two tombs and similarly 
approached by a narrow passage enclosed by walls 
of jnasonry we find the " Grotta dei Sarcofagi." 
This Tomb is more than usually plunged in darkness. 
Yet as the twO' sarcophagi which it contains are of 
life-size, we can by the aid of a candle sufficiently 
inform ourselves upon their details. 

One sarcophagus is of white marble and the other 
seems to be of alabaster. The experts have pro- 
nounced the latter material to have come from 
S. Felice on the promontory of Circle. Why should 
the proprietors of the Tomb have gone to such a, 
distance for alabaster with the resources of Volterra 
available to them? However that may be, the fine, 
recumbent draped figures upon these sarcophagi give 



218 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

you la; great idea of the Etruscan physical type. 
Both are crowned with chaplets of leaves. One 
figure rests upon his back, his right arm stretched 
along his side, and with his left hand touching the 
torque or necklace which he wears round his neck. 
Four small and very conventional lions are placed at 
the comers of his couch. To the other figure who 
reclines upon his left side, the artist has paid 
greater attention in the way of colour and ornament. 
His hair is stiffly curled in the archaic manner. 
His eyes and lips are coloured. The cover of the 
sarcophagus should receive much attention, being 
the representation of a tiled roof very carefully and 
artistically worked. Likely enough it was the repre- 
sentation (Of the proprietor's roof — or perhaps even 
of (a ,temple. A sarcophagus of a similar kind is 
to be seen in the British Museum. That came from' 
Bomarzo. In this Tomb there was formerly a third 
sarcophagus and of a higher and more elaborate 
art. I The sides were ornamented with coloured 
figures in relief. It has taken up a new position' 
in the Etruscan-Vatican Museum, where so many of 
the art treasures of Caere are exhibited. From' ai 
portion of an inscription upon a wall of this tomb 
and also upon a slab, it is supposed that a family 
named •** Apucus " were in possession. I presume 
Apucus to be the Latinised form of the Etruscan 
name. These walls were frescoed once, but of colour 
or design nothing now remains. I think it is fair 
to credit the Etruscans — whatever may have been 
their limitations in other branches of art, — with 
having created that of sarcophagal recumbent 
figures. It is an art unknown in Egypt or Greece. 
In Etruria, — especially in Tarquinia, Chiusi, Tosca- 

* A detailed account of this work of art has been given by Mr. 
Dennis in his " Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria," vol. 2, p. 454. 



C^RE (CERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 219 

nella, they abound, — both in marble and terra-cotta;. 
And what a stride in the art the Etruscan lartists 
have made here ! They have altogether abolished 
the reign of the moon -faced dwarfs who dominated 
Volterra from their urns, as we have seen. 

It is at the North-East end of the Banditaccia 
that you will enter the most interesting' and the best 
preserved of all the Csere tombs. This is the 
•*' Grotta; dei Rilieve." In general plan — though 
stnaller, — it resembles the Tomb of the Tarquins. 
It has the similarly raised benches of rock with the 
same sepulchral recesses above. A ridged and 
raftered roof slightly slanting from the main beam 
is supported by two squared columns and all hewn 
out of the same tufa -rock. The architect proposed 
to himself, it seems, to present to us a symtnetrical 
and well-proportioned saloon as a fitting sepulchre 
for the family of "Matunas." 

A man of war, the head of the family must have 
been. And then the artist determined to surround 
the warrior, for the contemplation of his descend- 
ants, with an imperishable representation of all 
the .symbols and signs of his profession and also 
of the articles and furniture which had adorned his 
patron's dwelling-place. The roof is supported by 
two massive columns about 20 feet square, each of 
which springs out from a raised terrace upon either 
side of the tomb, together occupying a space of 
about two-thirds of the apartment.' The ornamenta:- 
tion of the capitals ^ of these columns is noteworthy 
as typical of the Etruscan order. The volutes of 
these are akin to the Ionic order, yet the ornamenta- 

^ A capital of a similar style at Mycene is figured in Schliemann's 
work on the Argolic Cities. The same motif of lotus-flowers, or 
buds, is often introduced upon the so-called Phoenician vases 
found in the Island of Cyprus, e.g. 



220 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

tion consisting of pendant-curved flowers — seemingly 
of lotus flowers, — suggests an Egyptian derivation. 
This decorative detail is another instance of Etruscan 
artists having gone to the East for some, of their 
designs. 

The faces of these square columns are ornamented 
with coloured reliefs of divers weapons, shields, war- 
like instruments, and also with articles of a domestic 
character. Here, a pair of twisted rods — supposed 
to be peculiar to the office of an augur or an Aruspex, 
and near by coils of leather straps and ropes. There 
is sculptured an olpe or pitcher, a cyclix or drink- 
ing-bowl. Here, a bottle suspended by a string, a 
long curved trumpet (lituus), a. sheathed dagger, 
a hand-bag, a club, an axe, and so forth. At the 
foot of one column is painted a spotted cat playing 
with ^a mouse, and on the inner base of the same 
column you see a goose picking up com. 

Upon the base of the right column is painted 
in jhigh relief a large gong upon a stand. Above 
this is a mace, a small pot, an axe again, a wooden 
frame holding a pair of knives, and a bundle of 
seven spits (?) bound together. Another bundle of 
the mysterious twisted rods (as afore seen) and above 
and just below the capital a disc, or possibly a drum. 
The raised terrace supporting the columns to which 
I have referred is about a foot higher than the 
floor of the sepulchre, and cut into thirty-two beds 
for as many bodies. Raised again above these com- 
partments are three recesses, containing altogether 
nineteen niched beds, each with a rocky pillow 
painted red. Each niche is separated by a fluted 
pilaster adorned with a capital of the same design 
as that of the two supporting columns. Each pilaster 
bears just beneath its capital a shield, coloured gold. 
Above, a double frieze runs round the walls of the 



C^RE (CERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 221 

Tomb with moulded and coloured representations of 
every kind of weapon suggestive of Etruscan war- 
fare. A central niche at the top of the room and 
facing the entrance was evidently the resting-place 
of the head of the family and of his wife also. 
For the " lectus " or double bed here plainly denotes 
that. 

The place and position of the funeral couch and 
the carvings round about point out the occupant 
as the " Matunas " of the inscriptions, and the 
ornament qf the lady's fan introduced may fairly 
suggest that his companion upon the couch was the 
wife of the head of the family. Upon either pilaster 
enclosing the warrior's couch is wrought a head — 
much disfigured now, — and it has been inferred that 
these were portraits of those who slumbered below. 

Beneath, on the left pilaster, are sculptured two 
vases, and under the portrait-head of the other a 
string of beads and the lady's fan. Every article 
I have here alluded to is in relief and coloured. The 
ornamentation of the left pilaster is completed by 
the representation of a cupboard or safe with a 
keyhole. This decoration gives a domestic touch 
to the otherwise generally military character of the 
associations. The frieze, which I have described as 
surrounding the walls, exhibits over the warrior's 
couch two round painted shields, and between them 
a conical helmet and a suspended sheathed sword. 
Thus the military character of the decoratioii is again 
uppermost, and gives a finishing touch to the whole 
conception of the chamber, which is that of " iWhen 
a strong man armed keepeth his palace his goods 
are in peace." 

Everything that has been noticed is coloured to 
represent the original article, and generally in relief. 
I saw no marble work at all with the exception of 



222 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

two small cippi, like myerted mushrooms, placed upon 
the raised platform, — ojie on each side of the entrance 
door. Dne bears the following inscription as in- 
terpreted by the learned : " Matunas Larisal du 
Cnevthikes Chunta." Let us trust to the words las 
denoting the style and title of the " strong man " 
and his life's partner. Over the entrance -door of the 
tomb is painted a bronze patera between filleted 
bulls '-heads, and also a large dish, which together 
suggest the idea of a sa.crifice. Upon each door-jamb, 
is the representation of a bronze two-handled dish, 
and beneath each of them an Etruscan circular 
trumpet, called by the Greeks, " Keras." 

Upojl each of those niched beds which we have 
cojntemplated an Etruscan warrior once reposed. 
Each one of them probably a member^ of the family 
of Matunas. \^^hen the sepulchre was discovered in 
1850 their helmets, greaves, and cuirasses were" in 
situ, to attest to the earthly warfare of each man, 
although their very boJues had crumbled. Yet there 
was one form, — a skeleton still clothed in his panoply. 
It was the head of the family himself, whose couch 
in the centre of the Tomb we have found so interest- 
ing. Dne knows not why he should have been more 
imperishable than his companions, yet it seems to 
us dramatically quite fitting that so it should have 
been. 

The paintings around this warrior's couch should 
not be overlooked, for they, are peculiarly representa- 
tive of the Etruscan spirit. Two of their mt>st 
obnoxious semi-divinities, Charun and a Typhon, 
together with an especially repulsive Cerberus, are 
engaged in a frenzied revel. Typhon squatting upon 
the serpent coils which terminate his evil form, 
brandishes a rudder in his right hand and a serpent 
in his left. The monster Cerberus wears a colla,r of 



C^RE (CERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 223 

snakes to enhance his customarily amiable appear- 
ance, and has each of his three heads painted of a 
different colour — red, black, and white respectively. 
To form the infernal tricolour I imagine. He is 
glaring behind him out of one of his heads, annoyed 
with Charun, who does not seem! to be " coming on " 
sufficiently quickly. 

How curious it seems to us that such weird scenes 
were considered to soothe the couch of the departing 
or departed. And one wonders how the mourners 
could have derived any consolation from such grim 
imaginings. The entrance to the Grotta dei Rilieve 
is similar in character to the tombs already visited, 
differing only in that the approach is guarded by 
two tufa -wrought lions. 

This Grotta dei Rilieve seems to me the best — 
I had nearly said the only — instance at Csere of a 
tomb of purely Etruscan work. Etruscan in spirit, 
EtruscainL in design, Etruscan in all its details. iWe 
have good ground also to consider it to be of such 
very early date as to show no Greek influence at all. 
Had a Greek artist been called in to fashion ,this 
Tomb, should we not have met with Greek friezes and 
columns with the customary details of meanders, 
frets, metopes, guttae, and so forth. The decora- 
tions here are all of Etruscan type from the capitals 
of the columns to the arms, shields, weapons, vases, 
dishes, trumpets, and the furniture generally. The 
Etruscan spirit prevails throughout the plan of the 
design both in its conception and in the details. 
And although a race of warriors was to be entombed 
here, each duly clad in the full panoply of war, the 
family -note breathes throughout. 

Everything has been thought out and cared for — 
and taken due advantage of. No detail stinted oil 
stunted. The architecture, the adaption of the means 



224 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

to the end, the careful adjustment of each funeral 
couch to the due requirement of teach individual 
corpse. All these things attest the high civilisation 
to which the Etruscans had attained, and also the 
symmetry and even methodical character of their 
minds. And here also has been an instance, — the 
solitary one it seems, — of a reforming spirit upon 
the part of the creator of a. tomb ; of one who took 
upon himself to break away from the traditions of 
his ancestors, from the ancient customs which de- 
manded that the precious possessions of the family 
in gold or bronze, the jewels and the figured vases 
should be heaped around his corpse. That only the 
representation of such things — carved and coloured — 
should remain as evidences of what the family wealth 
had been, and that the originals should remain the 
property of the survivors and to gladden the hearts 
of his descendants under the family roof. And it 
can be supposed how very much the family would 
have appreciated the kindly tokens of such generous 
forethought. 

The Grotta del Triclinio, which is close to that 
of the Sarcophagi above described, should certainly 
be visited as being the chief frescoed tomb of Caere, 
fof painted tombs are rare here. Yet it is rather for 
its reputation as such than for actual possession oif 
frescoes now. 

*' Triclinium " was the couch that enclosed the 
dinner-table upon three sides. The term came to 
include the dining-room itself. 

The colours were laid on in distemper, not ** al 
fresco " — strictly speaking.' 

* Speaking of Egyptian and Etruscan wall-paintings, Mr. J. 
Hamilton Jackson, in his " Mural Painting" (1904), says that analysis 
of fragments of these coloured plasters always shows some form 
of glue or gum; he thinks that the word "frescoes" is only used 
locally when applied to such wall-paintings. 



C^RE (CERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 225 

If faith be the evidence of things not seen a. very- 
large measure will be required to comprehend what 
may have been visible years ago. For myseilif I must 
confess that for a long time I failed to grasp the 
purport of the smears of colour upon the walls. 
And I was backed up by an assiduous cicerone with 
his lantern dimly burning, and aided as well by the 
large suggestive passes of his hands which formed 
heads and shapes nearly invisible to myself. Even 
the white stucco whence the colours had fallen off 
had been darkened by the damp. " That the mighty 
maze of colours was not without a plan," the descrip- 
tion of Mr. Dennis who was here some thirty years 
ago, (and how one must wish that one could have 
been with hinX then !) fortunately remains to prove. 

" The tomb," he says to commence with, " has 
but a single chamber 24 feet by 16 feet. Upon the 
left hand you will perceive the heads of a man and 
a woman who are reclining together at a banquet, 
and beautiful heads they are with features of Greek 
symmetry. His head is garlanded with laurel and 
he wears a short beard," (the Etruscans were more 
in favour of beards than of moustachios), his flesh 
is of the usual red, the conventional colour (with that 
people) of gods and heroes. But her flesh is of the 
white stucco, though her cheek is touched with red. 
He pledges her in a bowl of wine, which courtesy 
she acknowledges with an approving glance. She 
is pretty and wears a variegated skull-cap and has 
a necklace and a torque, coloured gold. By their side 
stands a round table spread with fruit and eggs. A 
large round shield is painted on the walls. From 
their heads you rhay judge of the similar paintings 
upon the other walls where eight couples are like- 
wise reclining. The men with their dusky com- 
plexion remain more distinct than the pale women. 

15 



226 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

The men are not half -draped as in the earlier tombs 
at Cometo, but are wearing white tunics, the women 
in yellow. Two slaves (in ancient Etruria servants 
were never lackingi) are to be detected upon the inner 
wall standing at a table attentive to the vases and 
goblets thereon depicted. A tall candelabrum ^ stands 
near. Upon the side wall this scene is repea,ted. 
The couches, where discerinible, are adorned iwith 
mythical animals. In the floor of this sepulchre is 
an oblong pit, — as in the roof of the Tarquinii's 
tomb. They may have been shafts connecting with 
other tombs below or above. The word '* Junon " 
is inscribed upon one of the vases. That is said to 
prove the tomb of a late date which the character 
of the paintings had already suggested. That 
" proof " seems to me questionable. The deity 
" Juno " as such was never known to the Etruscans ; 
but the term " Juno," the representative as it appears, 
of a certain class of mythical beings of the " Lares " 
type, was accepted by the Etruscans. Moreover, as 
the name here has been spelt out as " Junon," I 
do not think that we can regard the name as referring 
to the Latin or Roman goddess. 

A Tomb adjacent to the Grotta^ dei Rilieve, known 
as the " Grotta delle Lastre Dipinti," should not be 
passed by, for it marks the site of a remarkable and 
unique discovery of a very ancient monument pi 
art quite peculiar to Csere. Five painted terra-cotta 
slabs (Lastre Dipinti) each of about 40 inches in 
length and 22 inches in width. Slabs similar to these 
have been found nowhere else in Etruria. Fortunately 
for us they have now taken up a prominent position 

' Candelabra are frequent in Etruscan paintings, and merit note 
as instances of Etruscan luxury. They are often adorned with 
small vases upon their stems, and crowned with fruits and flowers 
at the top. 



C^RE (CERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 227 

in the British Museum, and the reader having seen 
the place of their discovery may periiaps wish to have 
a brief description of them before he studies them; 
in their present resting-place. When the Tomb was 
opened they were found lying on the floor. Two of 
the five slabs, those bearing the figures of sphinxes, 
are said to have formed the entrance of the Tomb. 
The other three slabs bear three figures each, of about 
half the height of the slabs. 

SevepL of the figures are women, and two are men. 
The scene represents — upon the part of the women 
at least — a' procession, for the two men are talking 
apart, as though they were engaged in criticising the 
ladies, — who although elaborately garbed especially 
as regards their shoes or rather boots, cannot bie 
described as comely in face or form. The two men 
are bearded ap,d have short hair, one wears a black 
cap and cloak and bears in his hand a bough of a 
tree painted red. The other wears a; cap (petasus) 
and a black cloak (pallium) over a white tunic, and 
ini one hand carries a; chaplet and in the other la 
wand or sceptre. Both men wear buskins reaching 
half-way up the leg. Theirs shoes of some soft 
material are pointed at the toes. The women are 
heavily clad. Dveri the chiton they wear pnantles 
red or black, and in one instance it is draped over 
the head, the lady with ome hap.d "raising it as though 
it were a Veil. Two of these ladies wear buskins 
like the men, and their shoes are much pointed. The 
Etruscans were ^Iwgys extremiely " nice " as to their 
cjiaussute. So ln,tich [nicer than are the modern 
Tuscans. Shoes seem' always to have been " de 
rigiueur " in! the earliest times, very much studied 
ijX idxxri, ^d decoration. That is always seen in 
vases aind wall -paintings. These ladies are 
generctusly furnished with lo^g tresses, one of them 



228 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

having her hair floAving down beneath her waist. 
Each of them wears, too, that stereotyped meaning- 
less grin so peculiar to archaic art. A triple guil- 
loche pattern runs along the top of the slabs, and 
below them is a band of vertical stripes coloured red 
and white. Few colours are made use of in these 
paintings, only red, black, brown, and yellow. 

Mr. Dennis, upon whose description I have chiefly 
drawn in noting these paintings, also says that " the 
colours are indelible, being burnt in with the tiles." 

That these paintings I'epresent a very ancient art- 
epoch cannot be disputed. Pliny has left on record 
that in his da;y were still to be seen at Ccere paint- 
ings which might be dated as two centuries before the 
Foundation of Rome. One wonders if these slabs 
were those alluded to by hinl. They well might be 
the same, so excessively archaic is the style. 

Other tiles of this unique character have been 
found at Caere. Notably a set now in the Louvre 
and formerly in the Campana Collection. They seem 
to (belong to the same ancient epoch, but are of 
greater artistic value inasmuch as they illustrate an 
historical or mythical subject : the " Sacrifice of 
Iphigenia," or of some similar story. I have been 
minute in recording the contents of this Tomb delle 
Lastre Dipinti, — for the Tomb itself has long since 
been abandoned and filled up. And that has been 
the case with countless others, and even since Mr. 
Dennis was here. 

Those Tonibs which I have noticed (and to those 
may be a;dded the Grotte delle Sedie and Scudi, and 
della; bella Architettura) have been placed under lock 
and key. 'One trusts that they may always remain so. 

Respect for Archaeology — if not for sepulchres — 
has been a; plant of slow growth in Italy. Yet it 
has grown during the last thirty years. Now that 



C^RE (CERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 229 

there is a. Governinleiit in Italy inspired by other 
considerations than those of the " auri sacra fames," 
it is to be hoped that Caere may still further be 
explored. Great as the finds have already been, we 
may be sure that the field ^has been by no means 
exhausted. As I have hinted previously, the extent 
of the City walls are still fairly recognisable. The 
City is said to have had a circuit of four miles, 
i.e., some thirty times greater thaji; that occupied by 
the modern village. 

Caere having been a' Pelasgic City, we should 
have expected to have found here blocks of the 
polygonal masonry peculiar to the Pelasgians. It 
is mot so, however ; what traces of the wall are to 
be found, — and those are scanty — consist of rectan- 
gular masses. It is generally admitted that C^re 
was one of the Twelve Etruscan Cities. Dion men- 
tions the City ^.s at war with Tarquinius Priscus.; 
That is the first notice of her with regard to Rom;e. 
Later on she is found in alliance with Veil and Tar- 
quinia, as fighting with Servius Tullius, and, being 
worsted, had to forfeit some of her territory. Perhaps 
that was the reason that she abstained from joining 
Lars Porsenta when he took up the cause of Tarquinius 
Superbus . 

It is in the year 220 A.u.c. that we have one of 
the earliest and most picturesque glimpses of Caere. 
She had in that year joined her navy to that of 
Carthage for the purpose of driving the Phocaeans 
out of Corsica, of which they had possessed them- 
selves, and with great difficulty, for the allies seem to 
have lost the greater part of their combined fleet 
in the attempt. The Phocaeans were defeated. The 
soldiers of Caere brought their prisoners to Caere 
and there stoned them to death. For this outrage 
Caere was promptly brought to book by the avenging 



230 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

deities. The Citizens, and even their flocks and 
herds, approaching the guilty neighbourhood of the 
massacre were seized with paralysis. The C^rites, 
thoroughly terrified by these consequences of their 
great crime, sent off in hot haste to Delphi to request 
forgiveness, and besought the oracle to pronounce 
how they could expiate this impious breach of the 
law of nations. The oracle directed them to perform 
the customary rites of expiation^ and further to in- 
stitute equestrian games and gymnastics to (be 
periodically renewed in order to appease the Manes 
of their victimis. So runs the story, as told by Hero- 
dotus (Book I., 167). 

The account is chiefly interesting to us as showing 
the connection between Caere and Greece. 

Coere enjoyed the distinction, in the opinion of 
ancient writers, of being one of the few Etruscan 
Cities possessed of a harbour that abstained from' 
piracy. Amongst other distinctions of hers was that 
she was generally upon good terms with the Romans . 
Indeed she was able to afl'ord Rome a valuable and 
substantial proof of her friendship in one of Rome's 
darkest hours. For she is reported to have g"iven 
shelter to the Flamen Quirinalis, and to the Vestal 
Virgins when the Gauls took Rome, and yet further 
when the Gauls were leaving Rome and carrying off 
much booty with them Caere attacked them and 
deprived them of their plunder. It is even said that 
the word " casrimonia " arose out of the former 
friendly transaction. After such services it would 
have been expected that the two cities would always 
have remained upon terms of amity. But in ,the 
year 353 B.C., Rome having attacked Tarquinia, 
Ccere considered that it behoved her to assist a sister- 
city in distress. Both Cities were, however, defeated, 
and Caere had to pay heavily for her mistaken policy. 



C^RE (CERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 231 

Wei ScSi'cely hear of Csre again except in the in- 
evitable notice that we have of her having assisted 
to victual Scipio's fleet iji the Second Punic War. A 
remark that has been: made of most of the [chief 
cities of Etruria. 

The Regolini-Galassi Tomb. 

The position of this Tomb outside Caere has been 
already pointed out. 

The (now desolated and abandoned ;sepulchre 
formed, when it was discovered by Messrs. Regolini 
and Galassi in 1836, Core's " cheval de bataille." 
The discovery sent a; thrill through archaeological 
Europe much as the after researches of Schliemann 
at Mycenae and the revelation of the treasures of 
iQueen Aah-hetep at Drah-abul-Nekka in Egypt. 

Great and abundant as the treasures discovered 
here were, they assumted a secondary position in the 
eyes lof the archaeologists in comparison with the 
immense antiquity of the architecture of the tomb 
itself. The entrance, at least, can still be profitably 
investigated by the arch^ological student. The rude 
convergence of horizontal blocks of tufo cut away 
and curved so as to form an arched doorway marks 
ai construction of extreme antiquity, one previous 
to the introduction of the arch proper into Italy. The 
similarity of this construction to that of the primitive 
gateway of Tiryns has been noted by many writers. 
Tiryns was a! Pelasgid City, and the repetition of the 
type here justifies the belief that this also was of 
Pelasgic origin. Agylla, or Caere, having been for 
long one of the principal cities inhabited by the 
Italian Pelasgians, it would have been singular had 
there been no vestiges of their dominion. I think that 
when we are going over the contents of the Tomb 
we may find other suggestions of a Pelasgic origin. 
This entrance of an embryo -arch is crowned by ja 
block of nenfro -stone. 



232 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

The Tomb formerly was surmounted by a double 
tumulus of earth, no remains of which exist. The 
base was surrounded by a wall of masonry enclosing 
unimportant tombs, probably for the inferiors be- 
longing to the household. They served the purpose, 
if it were an intentional one, of misleading those who 
destroyed them, for those who did so were unaware 
that the valuable tombs lay far beneath. 

" The doorway," says Mr. Dennis, " is the index 
to the whole tomb, which is a mere passage about 
60 feet long, constructed on the same principle and 
lined with masonry, and consisting of two chambers 
communicating by a doorway of the same (pseudo) 
Gothic form with a truncated top. The outer 
chamber is 33 feet long, the inner 24J feet, and the 
thickness of the partition wall 3 feet . . . No rifler 
had ever forced his way here, for the remarkable 
treasures which have made the name of the tomb 
proverbial were all spread out as though awaiting 
an inevitable destiny." At the further end of the 
outer chamber was seen a bronze bier i foot in 
height with a raised head-top, and upon it the corpse 
that had lain there had dissolved into nothingness. 
By the side of the bier stood a small four-wheeled 
bronze-car decorated with a relief of lions and with 
a basin inserted. This no doubt contained frankin- 
cense or other gums for the purpose of fumigation in 
" more Etrusco." » 

Upon the other side of the bier rested some very 
primitive terra-cotta " Lares " (black terra-cotta) ; 
some of them in long robes and " chasubles," others 

• Mrs. Hamilton Grey, who wrote a "Tour in Etruria," some 
seventy years ago, mentions the combustion, in her presence, of a 
lump of fragrant gum. She says that the extreme pungency of 
the odour drove herself and her party out of the door. I think 
it was in this very tomb that the stuff was found. 



C^RE (CERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 233 

in plumed hats. A small iron altar was placed at the 
head and at the foot of the bier. A bundle of darts 
and a' shield were also at the foot. 

Upon the wall were hung six shields, large and 
round, 3 feet across, all of embossed bronze in 
relief. Near the door was si four-wheeled bronze car, 
large enough to have borne the body to the tomb 
in much the same way as we are accustomed to trans- 
port our dead at the present day. Upon two iron 
/tripods, also close to the door, stood very large 
cauldrons with reliefs and ornamented handles of 
griffon's heads. A curious double-bronze vase stood 
near. One vase was inverted, thus forming the base, 
and was joined to the other vase by two spherical 
balls. Then, there were more bronze vessels sus- 
pended from nails upon feither side of the recessed 
roof. Most of these vessels appear to have been; 
for fumigating purposes, — a customary and perhaps 
necessary process in tombs where the corpses were 
suffered to decay without any special treatment. This 
tomb was regarded as that of a warrior. So far it 
seemed to contain nothing that might not have been 
found in many another sepulchre. The surprise for 
the discoverer was reserved in the inner chamber. 
The partition door was filled with masonry half-way 
up, and upon each door jamb was hung a silver vase. 

Bronze vessels also were suspended on either side 
of the entrance, and others hung, as in the outer 
room, from the vaulted roof. Then as the explorer 
advanced he perceived two more bronze cauldrons. 
At the end of the room he was checked by a sudden 
array of plates of gold spread upon the floor whereon 
had rested a corpse of which no traces remained. 
The position of the gold ornaments indicated that 
they had rested upon the body. 

There were further many fragments of gold fringes, 



234 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

and of thin plates of gold which suggested that th€ 
body had been arrayed in a garment of gold. All 
the ^.bundant ornaments around were also of gold. 
Conspicuous amongst them wei^e a head-dress of 
unusual type, a breastplate of an Assyrian or 
Egyptian character (these very similar to the well- 
known Prseneste treasure in the Kircher Museum at 
Rome), two necklaces — one of very long joints ; a' 
pair of large ear-rings and a pair of bracelets pf 
filigree work, eighteen fibulae or brooches, and many 
rings. The head-dress above mentioned, — to go 
somewhat into detail — consisted of two oval plates 
united by two broad bands embossed with figures 
of ducks and lions. The '* breastplate " had twelve 
bands of real or mythical figures. Against the back 
wall were placed two silver vases figured in relief. 
Some of the silver vases bore an inscription of 
"Mi Larthia"— "I L'arthia "— or "I am Larthia," 
" Larthia " i being supposed to be the feminine form 
of Lars or Larth. The Assyrian or Egyptian charac- 
ter of these cups '(gilt inside some of them were ) was 
to be remarked. Amber brooches and bullse were 
found in the same tomb. Other much less valuable 
objects were found in two small circular chambers, 
one on either side of the outer passage. In one was 
a cinerary urn containing calcined bones. It is note- 
worthy to find a tomb wherein two of the modes 
of disposing of the dead were practised. With regard 
to the above name of " L'arthia " and the supposed 
feminine character of the gold ornaments around the 
corpse, — it has been argued that the latter personal 

' It is quite certain I that Priestesses were unknown to the 
Etruscans. It is also doubtful whether Larthia was the feminine 
form of Larth or Lars. The recurrence of forms of that name, or 
title, is so frequent in the Etruscan sepulchres as to suggest that 
we may not have arrived at the true interpretation of the word. 



C^RE (CERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 235 

decorations might hSve been likewise worn by a 
man of high rank, a Lucumo, priest, e.g. Indeed 
there is a hierarchical character about them which 
seems to confirm the conjecture. The two small 
circular chambers just mentioned are considered to 
have been later additions. Canina was of opinion 
that the inner tomb ' alone was the original one, and 
the other chambers formed and occupied later on. 

There is another peculiar feature in this sepulchre 
which gives to it a distinctive character, viz., the 
flooring thereof. The floor beneath each corpse was 
paved with stones, fembedded in cement. This hint 
at mosaic is, I imagine, unique in Etruria, and pos- 
sibly the earliest existing instance of such work. Yet 
more precious than all these jewels of gold and silver 
to the archseologist's heart, was the famous Alphabet 
found here, inscribed upon a terra-cotta vase or ink- 
bottle. Herie at last, it was fondly hoped, we might 
be upon the threshold of solving the Etruscan riddle. 
For not only the Alphabet was given to us, but 
syllables, a, spelling-book in short, •* Ba-Bi," *' Ma- 
Mi," and the rest of it. Yet such hopes have not 
been realised. We ^re no nearer to the key to 
Etruscan than we were before. This Alphabet, to 
begin with, consists of 25 letters. The Etruscans 
had but 16. And a second and fatal obstacle ^s 
that we must read it from left to right. Many of 
the letters in the list were used by the Etruscans, 
it is true, for both they and the Pelasgians made use 
of very old Greek letters. Yet the Pelasgians wrote 
from left to right and the Etruscans did not. It has 
been related that another Tomb in the vicinity of 
the Regolini-Galassi had a Pelasgid alphabet painted 
upon its walls. A smaller terra-cotta bottle with an 
alphabet was also found in the Regolini-Galassi 
* " Canina," quoted by Dennis, vol. i. p. 270. 



236 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Tomb. There is much evidence, I think, for the 
Pelasgic origin of the Regolini-Galassi Tomb. None 
of the things regarded as Etruscan specialitds have 
been found therein. No figured vases, very little 
pottery at all, and that of a primitive type. 
No " specchii " (bronze mirrors), no scarabaei, no 
frescoes. Even the gold ornaments may have been 
of Pelasgic work. For Castellani and others have 
been in favour of th^ higher, skill of the Pelasgic 
goldsmiths. 

Professor Lepsius, (a great authority upon such 
matters), refers to the Pelasgia:n goldsmiths " those 
finely-wrought thin articles sewn with minute gold 
grains." He also considers that the Pelasgians 
originated " the bizarre yet often elegant vases of 
black ware." I suppose he means that of " buc- 
chero," so abundant at the very ancient site of 
Chiusi (Camars). 

Not only, then, from' the architecture of the Rego- 
lini-Galassi Tomb and from its contents are w^e 
justified in believing that this Tomb is a Pelasgic 
one, but we are further led to the conclusion that the 
goldsmith's art was anterior to that of the figured 
ceramic ware. We know that that was so in the 
Mycensean or ^gean art. And yet more remarkably 
so in Egyptian art. The Pottery in this Tomb is 
quite of a primitive kind. The gold work and the 
bronze work, upon the other hand, demonstrate a high 
development of the metallic arts. I think we may 
infer, then, that these are Mycensean or Egyptian, if 
not worked in Italy itself by the Pelasgic artists who 
were indebted to the East for their culture. 

As regards Csere, — Professor Lepsius considered 
that the " Pelasgic population of Cere was preserved 
more or less pure to a late period." A Tomb very 
similar architecturally to this Regolini-Galassi Sepul- 



CMKE (OERVETERI) OR AGYLLA 237 

chre was discovered at Mojiterone, near Palo, in 1838. 
It had the s^me Pelasgic !c,haracter of the pseudo-arch, 
with courses of converging blocks .; it also contained 
specimens of the black archaic pottery. And though 
not now to be seen, other tombs of the same Pelasgic 
type were discovered in that part of the Caere Necro- 
polis on the West known as Zambra. All the contents 
of the Regolini-Galassi Tomb have been placed in 
the Vatican Etruscan Museum, where the reader can 
verify them, if it pleases him to do so, as the author 
has done. 

I was accompanied in my tour! of the Casre tombs 
by a nervous and not very enthusiastic Italian. He 
was scarcely to be tempted into these dark subter- 
ranean sepulchres by any encomiums of my own. He 
generally awaited my return at the entrance with a 
breathless demand whether I had come across any 
snakes during my explorations. I answiered him with 
truth that I had seen many. The answer was quite 
sufficient to scare him away as though he were pur- 
sued by pythons. I was able to restore somewhat 
his shattered nerves and to stay his hurried flight 
by the welcomfe assurance that the serpents I had 
come across weile only representations upon painted 
walls. Snakes have always been a favourite delinea- 
tion in ancient art. They are entwined in all 
religions from Genesis downwards. 

Herodotus in Book VIII. says that the ancients wor- 
shipped the Gods and Genii of any place under the 
form of serpents. 

" Set up," says some one in Persius' Satires 
(No. i), "some marks of reverence such as the 
painting of two serpents to let boys know that the 
place is saOred." 

Neither quotation would have availed to comfort 
my companion — even had I produced them on the 
spot. He had been at Volterra, and may therefore 



238 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

have heard of Persius. The only consolation to his 
injured nerves that he could promise himself was to 
play the " numbers " of Tombs and Serpents, — for 
he was a hardened gambler, — at the Government 
" Lotto " at the next week's extraction. I f;ear though 
that his venture was not succiessful. 

In concluding these iiemarks as to Cerveteri I 
may add that the reader will not realise the pxtra;- 
ordinary abundance of the terra -cotta; vases recovered 
from the Caere Tombs unless he visit th^ Etruscan 
Department of the Louvre Gallery. One large room 
there is entirely devoted to; Caere. In addition to the 
famous terra-cotta slabs already alluded to, the 
shelves arfe stocked with vases of all sizes and shapes, 
— for the most part decorated and painted with 
patterns and ornaments of archaic type, as distin- 
guished from " figured *' vases properly so called. 
The abundance there also of the black bucchero ware 
is noteworthy. 



CHAPTER XY 

CHIUSI 

Chiusi being the one City in all Etruria with which 
we can associate a. real flesh-and-blood Etruscan 
personality, — Lars Porsena (Pursna in the dialect 
of his countrymen) i — one could have wished to 
approach the place in a father more reverential 
frame of mind than that induced by the exigencies 
of modern modes of travelling. 

For whether you journey here from' Siena or 
from some spot upon the Rome-Florense line (the 
Station (of Chiusi is upon a junctiori) you seem to 
arrive here nior^ battered, backed, shunted, and 
hustled than upon any other line in: Italy ; and that 
is saying a good deal if you have large experience 
of Italian travelling modes, and meaMs. 

The most sensible mode of procedure I think, 
after that you have been deposited upon the plat- 
form, and have shaken, literally and metaphorically, 
the dust from' off your feet, and have possessed 
yourself of a vehicle^ is to set your back resolutely 
against the Railway Station and all its works. And 
cloging your, iears to the multitudinous shriekings 

* Lars Porsena. — Lanzi, who favoured the idea of matronymics 
having obtained in Etruria, deduced Porsena, or Pursna, from the 
mother's name Pursia. Thence doubtless came the Roman Portia. 

239 



240 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

of baffled and embarrassed pioneers of locomotives, 
to keep your gaze fixed upon that pretty olive -clothed 
eminence to the North-West of you, — and which repre- 
sents the metropolis and the home of Lars Porsena. 

It is but a short and pretty drive. The scenery 
around you is of a grateful and familiar kind, re- 
calling to you many an English spot. Undulating 
wooded hills, and groves, and dells, and vales peopled 
by a seemingly -prosperous peasantry. Farms sur- 
rounded by verdant crops, and all oblivious of the 
thousand forefathers that sleep beneath the much- 
tilled soil, — unwept, unhonoured, and unsung, and 
undiscovered, which is worse. The ceaseless plough- 
shares that have gone over their unknown graves 
for countless years, — ^not cutting deep enough to dis- 
turb their urns. And Italians don't love steam- 
ploughs, or they might have cut into more sepulchres . 

Near the Railway Station and close to your road 
upon the right is the Tomb named " Deposito del 
Gran Duca," — so called from the 'erewhile proprietor, 
the Grand Duke of Tuscany, — discovered in 1818- 
(At Chiusi the term "- Deposito " is usually applied 
to an ancient Tomb.) 

This Tomb although small, of one chamber only 
and undecorated, is of great artistic worth. The 
entrance is an arch of very white travertine, a true 
and bond- fide arch. Arches in Etruscan tombs, as 
we have already learned, are rare. Arches any- 
where in Etruria are very elusive, — so we must make 
the most of one when we come across it. The 
door is barred by two heavy leaves of travertine, 
of which stone the whole tomb consists. 

Eight cinerary, urns were found in this single 
chamber, and upon some of them could be de- 
ciphered the name of " Peris," which probably was 
the family -name. 



CmUSI 241 

Chiusi, unlike Cerveteri and Tarquinii, seems not 
to have 3. distinctive necropolis. For, the Tombs 
that have been discovered are scattered far and wide. 
I suppose that the old proprietors and landowners 
preferred to entomb their relatives in their own 
private (grounds. And that desire seems very often 
hereditary among some of the wealthier in modern 
Italy. The " Deposito della Scimia " (Monkey) lies 
about two miles to the West of the City in a pretty 
English-like wood. 

It is excavated at a great depth out of the tufa- 
rock and contains four nearly square chambers, much 
of which has been gaily decorated with paintings, 
and if not in their pristine condition, are still fairly 
ornamental. 

A long low platform surrounds the central chamber 
upon which the corpses were deposited. 

Upon the right wall of the entrance were figures 
of gymnasts. A solitary lady formed the audience 
and was holding a parasol over her head whilst 
her feet rested upon a footstool. Upon the left was 
a chariot -race. 

From this room you pass into another with a 
similar low shelf upon two sides for the reception 
of the bodies of the dead. Here, there are but few 
f,rescoes, two nude figures only with a snake and 
some rude designs sketched upon the tufa itself. 

You can still distinguish two spirited figures ,of 
a man and a woman — leaping or flying down to a 
man below them who extends his hands towards 
them. Behind the leaping figures comes a man on 
horseback. A small monkey chained to a pillar 
below jgives its name to the tomb. Upon another 
wall are horsemen and some naked figures playing 
at the game of " morra," a diversion still extant in 
Italy. The roof of this tomb is carved in panels. 

16 



242 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

The wooden door is said to be " ancient." I very 
much doubt it. The Etruscans in no instance that 
I know of, trusted to so fragile a protection. The 
tomb is considered to be a very early one from 
the character of the paintings which are decidedly 
of native art. .When Mr. Dennis came here, a great 
deal [more was to be seen, which he has minutely 
described in his " Cities and Cemeteries." Yet, little 
more is to be seen of the frescoes at present than 
what I ihave noted. This " deposito," I may remark, 
is (the only tomb now (1908) under lock and key 
with the exception of the Colle Casucini. This being 
so, is owing to the fact that it is in private grounds 
and belongs to an owner with some regard for 
archaeology. The tomb is twenty minutes South- 
East of the town. 

It is cut out of the tufa-rock and consists of 
three chambers, two of which are decorated with 
paintings. The entrance door of 4 feet 4 inches 
in height, still has its travertine-folding doors, still 
working on their hinges, and upon either side a small 
room. The tomb is empty now. The frescoes are, 
however, astonishingly fresh. A painted frieze runs 
round the chief room representing games and chariot - 
races. Much to be remarked is the figure of a very 
vigorous charioteer urging on a pair of steeds singu- 
larly out of proportion to the chariot, which is small 
as a child's perambulator. This frieze seems of 
earlier art than the wall-paintings below. Wrest- 
lings, dances, and games form the chief decorations, 
small in size, not in the grand style as those on the 
" Sette Camini " at Orvieto, e.g., but pretty and fairly 
vigorous in treatment. The colours have been laid 
upon a very white plaster, which seems to have been 
of ia quality more durable than that usual in many 
other tombs. Upon one of the walls a. banquet is 



CHIUSI 243 

depicted, ,and it is curious to note how many vases 
and of various shapes the artist has introduced. You 
will remark, too, the figures of servants, — one hold- 
ing a colander or strainer ; another with a simpu- 
lus, or wine -ladle, in his hand, and another figure 
exercising himself with dumb-bells. This tomb 
appears never tO' have been very far below the 
present level although surmounted by a tumulus. 
The Signor Casucini to whom this property once 
belonged formed a very large and valuable Etruscan 
collection, and sold it en bloc many years ago to 
the Palermo Museum, where it may be seen in its 
integrity. 

It is upon the be-labyrinthed Poggio Gajella, four 
miles to the West of the town, that excavators have 
chiefly wrought and toiled. For here, if anywhere, 
tradition had suggested the existence of the 
" wondrous structure " of the sepulchre and monu-^ 
ment of Lars Porsena. Varro, who wrote pf the 
" Pyramid over pyramid," &c., did not see that tomb, 
but drew his account of it, as is believed, from 
Etruscan books. Pliny copied his account, but 
neither ;did Pliny see the tomb. Niebuhr waxed 
indignant with both of them for describing a fabric 
such as " never has existed nor could exist " — " like 
a fairy -palace in the Arabian nights." i Yet the hill 
is honeycombed with tombs and dotted with mounds 
and hillocks, mostly covered with copse, all sugges- 
tive |of buried magnates. The Casucini, referred 
to in the account of the Tomb so-called, drew a 
large portion of their collection from these Gajella 
sepulchres. Discovered in 1836, this hill has a 
measurement of 250 yards in circumference, about 
50 feet high, and surrounded at its base by a circular 
wall of masonry, and is literally packed with 
' Vide Lecture XII on the " History of Rome," 



244 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

sepulchres in three tiers one row over the other. 
Some were painted ; others with the roofs carved 
into beams and rafters. In the lowest tier was a 
circular chamber supported by a round column and 
contained some fine vases. It is from the North 
side of the hill whence these labyrinthine passages 
communicate with other tombs upon the iWest of 
the Hill. Meantime, and until the " wondrous 
structure " be brought to light, the mysterious 
labyrinths of underground passages upon this Poggio 
Gajella remain to puzzle sufficiently the brains pf 
archaeologists. Pliny speaks of the " inextricable 
labyrinth " connected with this tomb, and which he 
imagined to present insuperable difficulties to those 
approaching the monument unless possessed of the 
clue. A plan of the labyrinths was figured in Dennis's 
" Cities and Cemeteries." Some consider them to 
be an elaborate work of drainage. Yet the light, 
friable soil generally characteristic of Chiusi does 
not seem to demand any special work of that kind. 
These low tunnels large enough to allow men to crawl 
within, may perhaps have formed an alternative 
means of entering the tomb in case of need, and 
thus to avoid any possibility of interference by the 
main entrance after the final closing of the tombs. 
The riddle certainly has not yet been solved, though 
Pliny has given us a clue. Other labyrinthine 
passages somewhat of a similar kind have been dis- 
covered beneath the City itself. If they were ever 
entered, they cannot be seen now. At Girgenti (the 
ancient Agrigentum in Sicily), there are works pf 
a similar character. There they are attributed to the 
Aborigines, the Sicani. 

Chiusi, amongst her other works of a;rt, has been 
especially distinguished for the many scarabei of 
cornelian found here. There is a " Campo degli 



CHIUSI 245 

Orefici " on the East of the City, — a sort of Tom' 
Tiddler's ground, where these attractive articles have 
been unusually numerous. Not in tombs however. 
It looks as though there had been here a jewellers' 
quarter, strangely overlooked, and every now and 
then washed-out after heavy rain. Without com- 
paring Chiusi as a site to many more beautiful 
Etruscan cities (for the height of the City does 
not exceed 1,200 feet) extensive views and fine 
prospects may be obtained from many points of the 
City. Upon the North there is the really fine range 
of Monte Cetano, much clothed with forests, in the 
distance, and luxuriant valleys between the moun- 
tains and Chiusi. Far away to the North -.West the 
more modest heights of Chianciano and Montepul- 
ciano mark the centres of Etruscan sites often ex- 
plored but by no means exhaustively. All that fertile 
and beautiful district was once sonorous with 
Etruscan life and packed with towns, villages, and 
cemeteries. One knows not why so far more popu- 
lous than now. All vanished and buried beneath 
the rich cultivation of to-day, — ^and so far perhaps, 
we and the farmers may thank heaven for it. Then 
if you fix your gaze upon the extreme North you 
may isee as far as Arezzo, or at least to the extra- 
ordinarily rich plains which surround that City. 

The original name of Chiusi was Camars. Some 
believe that it was an Umbrian City and that when 
it was captured by the Pelasgians it was then called 
Clusium, froml a legendary Clusius son of a legendary 
Tyrrhenus. Virgil represents the City as support- 
ing JEneas against Turnus (^Eneid x. 167). Yet 
the first historical event recorded in the history of 
the City is that in common with other sister-cities » 

* Those cities were Arezzo, Volterre, Rusellae, and Vetulonia — 
according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus. 



246 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

she assisted the Latins against Tarquinius Priscus. 
(It is noteworthy how the Etruscans appear to have 
detested Tarquinius Priscus although his mother was 
an Etruscan and his wife was Tanaquil, also ^ 
Etruscan lady.) 

It is strange, moreover, for Lars Porsena took a 
very different line of policy in the instance of 
Tarquinius Superbus later on. 

Lars Porsena was a great personality, — the only 
great Etruscan name that has come to the fore. 
But it does not appear that he exercised any powers 
out of his own territory of Clusium, in peace-time 
at least. To call him " King," for instance, is quite 
erroneous. The title seems to have been unknown 
to the Etruscans. Every Etruscan City was in the 
hands of its nobles, — called " lucumones," and they 
elected from themselves the Chief of the State for 
each City. 

It is needless to observe that Chiusi was one of 
the Twelve Cities of the Confederation. Lars Porsena 
naturally pwes his great pre-eminence to his wars 
with the Romans, — even, it is said, to his temporary 
conquest of Rome. Pliny writes of Lars Porsena 
forbidding Rome to make use of iron except for 
agricultural purposes, which practically prohibited 
the use of 3words or of chariots. The arrogance 
of a conqueror, could scarcely have been more con- 
spicuously displayed. Dionysius of Halicamassus 
writes to the effect that the Roman Senate sent to 
Porsena an ivory throne, a crown and sceptre pi 
gold, and a triumphal garment. A very remark- 
able coincidence, for these were the very articles 
which Vetulonia had once presented to a Roman 
Monarch. One wonders if Rome economised upon 
the above occasion and returned the very same 
treasures which she had formerly received. 



CHIUSI 247 

r — 

'How far or for how long Lars Porsena was able 
to establish his supremacy over Rome is uncertain. 
Yet the utter defeat of his ally Tarquinius Superbus 
at the Battle of Lake Regillus, and the failure of 
Lars Porsena, or of his son Aruns, to get the betteii 
of the allied Romans and Cumeans at Ariccia (near 
the modern Albano) suggest that his superiority was 
short if sharp. Aruns was killed before Ariccia, and 
his so-called monument, — riot so very dissimilar to 
that of his father described by Varro, — is still in 
evidence near that town. The date of this defeat is 
506 B.C., and Lars Porsena deemed that moment 
opportune for concluding a treaty of peace with the 
Romans . 
(He seems to have thenceforth lived in amity with 
Rome and at peace with all the world, for we hear no 
more of him. Nor of Clusium, until long after that 
the hero had been laid to rest in his fantastic 
feepulchre. It was in the year 391 B.C. that the 
Senonian Gauls suddenly put in an appearance, — and 
a very awe-striking appearance, at the very gates of 
Clusium, and abruptly demanded the cession of a 
large portion of the Clusian territory. Fortunately, 
and wonderfully, the alliance with Rome was still in 
force, so that the terror-stricken inhabitants lost not 
a moment in appealing to Rome for assistance. The 
Roman Senate was swift to answer the appeal, and 
immediately despatched Ambassadors to Brennus the 
Gallic General, " inviting " him to respect the friends 
of Rome. The good offices of Rome, for the moment, 
had no other result than to embitter the angry feel- 
ings between the two camps. A battle promptly 
ensued in which the Romans hastened to take part. 
This active policy upon the part of Rome was pf 
the greatest service to Clusium. For it turned the 
wrath of the Gauls from themselves upon Romq her- 



248 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

self. The Gauls hurriedly abandoned Clusium and 
marched for Rome. And we all know of the capture 
of the City and of the brief stay of the Gauls in Italy. 
For nearly two hundred years from this time, history 
is silent upon the subject of Clusium. Finally in the 
year 225 B.C. we have another glimpse of Clusium, 
again threatened by a Gallic Invasion just before the 
great defeat of the Gauls by Rome at Talamone 
(Telamon). It is uncertain in what year Clusium 
had to submit to Rome, or what may have been the 
" casus belli." Probably it was during the time that 
Sylla was harassing and reducing one Etruscan City 
after another. If it were so it is a curious com- 
mentary upon Sylla's campaign to learn from Velleius 
Paterculus that the citizens of Clusium were engaged 
about the year 80 B.C. in erecting a statue to that 
ubiquitous General. 

That Rome was here for a long time, — even if her 
presence were not attested by so many extant remains, 
— might be assumed from the strong strategical 
importance of the place, situated as Clusium is, on the 
borderland of Umbria and Etruria. The remains of 
the ancient walls are scanty and have not the charac- 
teristic style of Volterra and Cortona with the excep- 
tion of some large blocks in rear of the Cathedral. 
The largest portion is to be seen just below the public 
promenade, — called the Prado, — and consists of un- 
cemented small blocks of travertine. This stone of 
which we have seen much in the tombs also, is not 
quarried in Chiusi, but comes chiefly from Sarteano, 
about five miles to the South. Chiusi, although 
occupying an elevated position, is not high enough, — 
like her more fortunate neighbour Citta Delia Pieve, 
— to escape the evil influences of malaria. She is too 
near her own stagnant shallow lake and also to the 
low-lying lands which are so often flooded by the 
river Chiana. 



CHIUSI 249 

Yet since large works of drainage were under- 
taken in the Val di Chiana, Chiusi has regained her 
health and strength if not her spirits. (For it cannot 
be said that the 3,000 — that is the figure at which 
the population is put — are a very roystering lot so 
far as their exterior demeanour goes.) 

Formerly there was an open tomb to the North- 
West of the town called, from its being in the grounds 
of a convent, " Deposito delle Monache." I recall 
this fact because having been lately in quest at Vulci 
of Coeles Vibenna, in this tomb was found an urn 
inscribed with that name in Etruscan, " Caule 
Vipina." 

It may have been commemorative of a relative 
of the famous condottiere of the time of Servius 
Tullius, but scarcely one would suppose of the hero 
himself. Another Tomb that should have been 
mentioned before as containing an instance of a 
perfect arch, — like that of the Gran Duca Tomb, — 
was that called " Delia Vigna Grande." Here were 
cinerary urns of travertine placed in the single 
chamber upon which were inscribed " Therini." 
The sepulchre was therefore supposed to belong to 
a family of that name, I should say, generally speak- 
ing, that the Tombs of Chiusi are not dissimilar 
from those of other sites, those with arched entrances 
excepted. That they were subjected from an early 
period to the attacks of plunderers there are many 
proofs. What the contents were, and in what 
branches of art the Clusians excelled or were deficient, 
the reader will better be able to judge when he has 
visited the Museum. That the black ware, generally 
known as " bucchero," was a specialty of Chiusi, and 
that it is to be dated very early in the history qf 
Etruria, is generally conceded. 

It has been previously remarked that Professor 



250 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Lepsius was in favour of Chiusi being of Pelasg^c 
origin. However that may be, Clusium in Etruscan 
times seems to have been the headquarters of the 
manufacture, and to have exported bucchero-ware 
to all parts of Etruria^ 

The " focolari," — or trays of that ware, set out 
with cups, — small pots, dishes, phials and vases, — 
(so very suggestive of " five o'clock tea,") — are un- 
'doubtedly of Clusian origin. Sometimes round, 
sometimes rectangular, they are considered to have 
been toilet-services, — to have contained all those 
things (and more) that are supposed to be necessary 
for a lady's dressing-table. Certainly a satire upon 
human nature, — upon feminine -human nature, that 
such things should have been placed within reach 
of the vanished hand in the tomb. One thinks of 
Hamlet's address to the skulL : " Tell her to paint an 
inch thick, for to this favour must she come." You 
will be surprised by the immense variety of shapes 
and sizes in this ware, that are to be seen in the 
Museum. A large proportion bear reliefs often of 
an Egyptian character. It is supposed that this was 
effected by means of a roller stamping the designs 
on the wet clay. The ware is brittle and was often 
imperfectly baked. The colour was not of the natural 
clay, and may have been imparted to the ware by some 
means of smoking, with which we are not acquainted. 
Some say bitumen was mixed with the clay. A 
very curious and tall column of terra-cotta will 
certainly arrest attention. It resembles so much a 
pigeon-house, — a familiar object enough in European 
countries, — and wants only the dovecot at the summit 
to jcomplete the resemblance. It is about 3| to 4 
yards high, and is formed of seven drums, each drum 
having two openings. It is thought by some to have 
served as a furuace foe baking tilesi;— others con- 



CHIUSI 251 

sider that it served for the cremation of corpses . This 
again seems to be one of the specialties of Clusians. 
The " Canopus ** type of cinerary urn certainly is one. 
The varieties of the type in this Museum are infinite. 
The ingenuity of the Etruscan artists was inex- 
haustible in the invention of queer forms and shapes. 
The Canopus ' form of jar or vase originated in 
Egypt, — and possibly the Clusians may have derived 
it thence. At Hissarlik it has also been found. It 
is rare in Etruria generally. Here, as the reader will 
see, it abounds. One Canopus jar is of bronze with 
a clay head. The combination is unusual, for the 
great majority of the Canopi are of plain terra -cotta. 
Another jar of terra-cotta of this Canopus kind 
deserves notice. The head, a female one, is mov- 
able. The lady, — evidently a portrait of the cremated 
one, is her own sepulchre, for her ashes are in the 
jar. Yet this is not of an imcommon type. It is 
a quaint idea. Every man, or as in this instance, 
every woman her own sepulchre, 
•^ Many of the urns of this Canopus type were found 
in the well-tombs (ziri) — which are very frequent in 
Chiusi. 

Another Canopus jar of smooth bucchero, oval in 
form, is closed by a cover in form of a ball which 
has impressed upon it a mask in imitation of those 
of bronze found at Chiusi. The nose of the face 
is much in relief and of an archaic type. Upon 

' The type of the Canopus jar is that of a large oval vase or jar, 
the cover formed of a portrait-head. Often the hands of the 
deceased are represented as protruding from the shoulders of the 
vase. The heads are often movable. Sometimes, and it seems 
one of the quaintest of the many quaint ideas of the Etruscans, they 
placed one of these canopus jars upon a chair made of bronze or 
terra-cotta. The chair, curiously enough, is often the exact shape 
of our basket-chairs. Examples of these may be seen in the 
Museums of London and Florence. 



252 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

the shoulders of the vase are two sharply executed 
protuberances in which are fastened handles repre- 
senting the neck and the head of gryphons. iThis 
vase is 3 feet 9 inches in height. 

Whilst upon the subject of bucchero, — a " pilgrim " 
bottle of that ware should be remarked, for the shape 
is rare. 

The cinerary urns other than those of the 
" Canopus " type are very numerous and of every 
material — terra-cotta, travertine, alabaster, marble, 
pietra-fetida. This last -mentioned stone — a kind of 
limestone, is common in Chiusi. It is not a good 
material for any purpose, being of an extremely 
brittle jnature, yet it has been used for cippi, 
pedestals, slabs, and even for reliefs. The last are 
generally in very low relief, — subjects such as pro- 
cessions and religious ceremonies. A statue, — serving 
also as a cinerary urn, — probably of Proserpine, 
which merits notice (for statues are not common here), 
is of the same pietra-fetida. It is a statuette rather 
than a statue, being under 6 feet in height. 

The divinity — very archaic — is seated with much 
dignity upon a throne and in her left hand holds an 
3,pple. The back of the figure is hollowed out for 
the reception of the ashes. The head is movable. 
Proserpine became " Manta " in the Etruscan mytho- 
logy. Nevertheless, the Etruscan spelling of the 
Greek goddess is often found as " Persephne " pr 
Phersiphnai. Another very similar goddess, of 
travertine, is also in this Museum. From the very 
great number of cinerary urns and cinerary devices 
of all kinds we must conclude that cremation prevailed 
in Clusium. The urns — it may be owing to the 
nature of the soil — have preserved their colouring, 
and the inscriptions upon them are generally remark- 
ably distinct. That in majiy cases may be owing to 
their having been, painted red. 



CHIUSI 253 

The reliefs of the cinerary urns, as in Volterra, 
are generally subjects of Greek myth and legend. 
I observed here one of " Laocoon/' — a good deal 
differing from the treatment of the subject in the 
famous Statue. 

Here, only one son is represented, and he lies 
dead at his father's feet. In many other urns many 
monsters terrestrial or marine are to the fore. Yet if 
inhumation was less common, there are two or three 
sarcophagi which for artistic worth yield to no others 
in Etruria. And that not only for the recumbent 
figures upon them, but for the reliefs around them. 

One of terra-cotta is remarkable also for the 
coloured details. It is of a noble-looking man re- 
posing upon a most carefully -modelled couch. His 
flesh and his eyes are coloured. 

An especially suggestive sarcophagus found near 
Chiusi, and now in the Museum at Perugia, also 
deserves notice. A recumbent male figure — probably 
a portrait — is " in extremis." A winged figure — 
probably his " genius " — has her hand upon his arm 
as though to notify him that his hour has come. The 
heads of both figures are movable, which seems to 
suggest that the ashes of others — after that the 
occupant of the sarcophagus had been placed within — 
could also find shelter here. 

The design is interesting, not only as showing one 
of the articles of the Etruscan faith, but also how very 
little attention was paid to the feelings of the survivors 
by the artist who carried out the commission entrusted 
to him. I 

' A very similar sarcophagus, also from Chiusi, is in the 
British Museum. The name of the recumbent lady there has been 
deciphered " Seiantiar Thannia," and the work attributed to 
200 B.C. 

In the Florence Etruscan Museum also, there is almost a 



254 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

' It is the alabaster recumbent statue of a lady, 
however, which is the pride of this Museum. The 
beauty of the stately form and of the classical 
features makes one think of a Jacopo di Querela. I 
suppose that it must be attributed to Greek influence. 
The reliefs below are of Greeks fighting Amazons 
and also of other combats. The sarcophagus 
formerly contained the lady's skeleton. 

In bronze objects the Museum seems certainly poor 
in comparison with those of other Cities. Yet there 
is one ibronze curiosity to which attention will 
certainly be directed. It is a very large circular 
bronze dish of about 76 inches in diameter. Around 
the rim are seven small male statuettes in diverse 
postures. It is believed that this vessel served for the 
collection of the ashes from a funeral pyre, and which 
were then distributed into the cinerary urns of those 
who had been consumed together upon the pyre. It 
must have been a puzzle to identify the ashes for each 
urn I The feet on which this dish stands are formed 
of Gorgons with arms extended and with beasts' 
talons. There are several small idols of bronze, 
but I think only one of any size. Rather of an 
Egyptian type and standing upon a bronze base. 
It is 18 inches in height. 

Strangely enough arms and armour are very scarce. 
I imagine that most have gone into other collections. 
Gold ornaments are rarer still. I think that the 
Louvre managed to secure a great many. Certainly 
there is in that collection a magnificent and famous 
fibula with a long inscription upon it. Yet it must 

counterpart of the one at Chiusi. I should say even more 
beautiful, and, strange to say, it bears a name similar to that in 
the British Museum, " Larthia Seianti." It must be another lady 
of the same family, or " Seianti " must represent some word 
unfamiliar to us. 



CHIUSI 255 

be always remembered that Chiusi, from her promi- 
nent position, and one easy of access from all parts, 
has always been particularly exposed to the depreda- 
tions of thieves and pillagers^; — native ones especially. 

Two terra-cotta slabs inscribed with Etruscan (?) 
alphabets are among the more characteristic [anti- 
quities here . These are said to be vety early, yet they 
have to be read from left to right — which is contrary 
to the alleged Etruscan system' of writing. 

A quadrangular cippus, although much mutilated, 
representing an Etruscan marriage, is very valuable 
as giving us an insight into one of the native customs. 
It is a scene rather turbulent in portions for a 
ceremony with which we connect ideas of calm and 
self-restraint. We can make out the bridegroom', 
and the bride, — a figure profusely draped ; the father 
who gives her away, and the priest distinguished 
by his " hat," — (it is more than the " pileum ") — and 
by a branch of olive in his hand. The inevitable 
" tibicina " or " subsulo," the musician with the 
double pipe, precedes all the chief actors. Various 
scenes of the ceremony are represented. It would 
require much space to describe them all, and the 
reader having ascertained what the cippus has to 
relate will be able to trace out the story without 
assistance. 

Though the show of vases (other than those of 
" bucchero ") — is not great, there are several worth 
looking at, especially such as are denoted " Orvietan 
vases," a class much ornamented with gold and silver 
reliefs, and which are considered to have had their 
origin in Orvieto. 

The famous Frangois Vase, now at Florence, was 
found in the vicinity of Chiusi either at Dolciano or 
at Fonte Rotella. It is of black figures upon a 
yellow ground. The subject of the paintings is threes 



256 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

fold. It is an " Achilleid " or at " Thesid," and has 
also the *' Chace of the Calydonian Boar." It is 
27 inches in height — perhaps the highest vase yet 
found in Etruria. Most of the names of the 
characters, as well as the names of the artists — 
Ergotimos and Klitias, are inscribed in archaic Greek 
upon the vase. 

Chiusi is the centre of a district extraordinarily 
prolific in Etruscan remains. Sarteano, five miles 
south of Chiusi ; the village and hills of Cetano, Chin- 
ciano, and Montepulciano have all proved very rich. 
Sarteano especially was stocked with bucchero-ware, 
and has completely furnished the Arezzo Museum, and 
a large section of the Florence Museum likewise. 

I was glad to see some silver coins, — said, or 
thought to be, productions of a Clusian mint. Silver 
Etruscan coins are very rare things. But a rarer 
object here is a bronze specchio with an ivory 
handle. There are many specchii here, but an ivory 
handle to one is a thing I have not before seen. 

One of the most curious terra-cottas ever found 
at Chiusi, is the Mater Matuta — a Goddess much in 
favour there, holding a babe in her arms. She sits 
upon a throne supported by sphinxes. It is less 
than life-size. Whether a goddess or not, she forms 
her own cinerary urn. This very curious production 
of ancient art is now in the Florence Museum. 

There are many Roman objects in the Museum 
also, but nothing that calls for particular attention 
with the exception of a very fine head of the Emperor 
Augustus, as Pontifex Maximus. The head has been 
wantonly mutilated, — but the features are intact and 
very finely chiselled they are. The head is placed 
among Etruscan antiquities. You could not find a 
more startling contrast between two epochs of art. 
The head was found in the City, presumably in a 
Temple, the site of which is now unknown. 



CHIUSI 257 

There is little in the City of Chiusi worth a visit. 
The Cathedral of S. Mustiola is a fine building and 
was much finer before it was " modernised " in 
accordance with Italian taste. For the nave and 
the aisles are imposing, and the eighteen columns 
supporting the vaults have all been brought from 
ancient buildings. I observed that many of the 
wealthier residents in Chiusi place sphinxes and other 
monsters upon their gates. I suppose the taste is 
hereditary, for their forefathers were as fond of 
sphinxes as they were of ostrich-eggs. 

But the sphinxes above alluded to are sham' an- 
tiquities, and should not be permitted upon the site of 
Clusium. At Clapham or St. John's Wood, one would 
tolerate such piquant effigies, but not in old Etruria. 
Chiusi had metaphorically gone downhill since my 
first visit — ten years ago. No one is to be found 
to give the visitor any information now. Even the 
normal guide is conspicuous by his absence. I quite 
thirsted for the vendor of spurious antiquities who, 
I had heard, pushed his nefarious trade to extremes 
at Chiusi. No one of the profession was to be met 
with in the streets, much less in the fields . Formerly, 
there were many tombs to be seen, — at present they 
show you iDUt one. Even the ancient functionary 
who after much delay produces a prehistorical bunch 
of keys, and after more delay singles out the one 
that does not open the Museum-door, displays 
Boeotian indifference to the contents and a deep 
discontent with yourself for having disturbed his mid- 
day siesta. So it will be seen that the visitor |is 
thrown back upon himself, and has to carve out his 
own ephemeral career at Chiusi as best he may. 



17 



CHAPTER XVI 

ORVIETO 

Since the remarkable discoveries of Etruscan Tombs 
and antiquities in and about Orvieto during recent 
years, archaeological students have decided to restore 
to this City the name of Volsinii. It is a title of 
which Orvieto should never have been deprived. For 
Bolsena, which had usurped the name, was known to 
have been founded by the Romans. And what City 
could have been the Etruscan Volsinii save this which 
was dominated the Urbs Vetus — the " Old City "? » 
.What were the motives which led the Romans to 
abandon such a fine position and to order off the 
Etruscans to the much inferior site of Bolsena, we 
have not been told. But Livy has related a great 
deal about the contests between Rome and Volsinii, 
and has made especial mention of the worship of 
" Norcia " here '(the Etruscan Fortune). Had more 
of the history of Dionysius of Halicarnassus been pre- 
served, no doubt we should have been further en- 
lightened about such things. Pliny is said to have 

' It has been related by Pliny, that Titus Coruncanius (the 
destroyer of Vulci) overpowered Etruscan Volsinii (or Volsinium, 
280 B.C.) and that he carried off two thousand statues of bronze, 
and, further, that (in 264 B.C.) M. Fulvius Flaccus completed the 
conquest by not only destroying the City, but by ordering off the 
inhabitants to the new Volsinium (Bolsena). 

258 



ORVIETO 259 

called the City Herbanum. It is not known why. 
Yet the name he gave certainly misled those who 
were looking out for, Volsinii. One supposes that the 
Romans, when they started a new City at Bolsena, 
demolished the Etruscan walls of the strong place 
which they wei^e leaving. For there are no Etruscan 
walls to be seen. One may suppose that the present 
finq defences may rest on the line of the old wall. 
Strong and stout and of a rich brown colour and in 
every way worthy of affording ample protection to 
the 34 Pontiffs, — more or less harassed, who sought 
shelter upon this grand hill. It seems almost in- 
credible to us that the eixstence of the great 
Etruscan Cemetery, chiefly upon the Northern slopes 
immediately without the walls, should have been un- 
known to us before the yeat 1875. ^^ is stated that no 
less than six thousand Tombs have been unearthed 
since that date. " Unknown to us," at least, but far 
from unexplored by others, — by unknown pillagers 
and marauders, — as the sacked condition of many of 
them too well attested. Yet there was still a rich 
harvest to be gleaned by which the Museum here, 
and many others, have been notably enriched — not to 
mention landholders and farmers in the neighbour- 
hood. Although as in the instance of Vulci, as we 
have seen, the vast number of shattered and broken 
vessels and vases proves how wanton the work of 
destruction has been, not many tombs have been left 
open in this vast extramural Necropolis of which I have 
spoken. Yet sufficient to show the neat and methodical 
manner in which the Etruscans interred their dead in 
this part of the kingdom. The tombs, though small, are 
very massive, and have been arranged in streets. " One 
set of these chambers, five on a side, back to back on 
the side of the hill falling in successive steps towards 
the North, forms a block about 18 yards long from 



260 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

North to South and 12 yards from East to West. But 
each tomb is a separate structure built up side by 
side with massive blocks of friable tufa " (Murray's 
"Central Italy," Route 106). The interior iwalls 
gradually approach each other until they, nearly meet, 
forming above a vault of peculiar construction. Some 
of the doors form a regular oblong, — others widen 
towards the base. (This last feature is a favourite 
one in some parts of Etruria and notably so at Castel 
d'Asso in the vicinity of Viterbo.) It was probably 
instituted to facilitate the introduction of the bodies. 
The blocks of stone forming the lintels of the doors 
are often 6 feet in length, upon which are inscribed 
in remarkably clear, large, and distinct Etruscan 
characters, the names, I presume, of those deposited 
or cremated within. So large, so emphasised those 
names, and to be deciphered so easily by the whilom, 
idling Etruscan schoolboy, and to us so nameless I 
Most of these tombs have the customary stone bench, 
— a mere ledge set against the walls whereon were 
deposited urns, vases, &c., and, (one supposes) in the 
case of inhumation of the bodies also. The pon- 
derous nature of the stone doors must be remarked. 
In some cases a series of three. None of these tombs 
were frescoed. To see instances of those we shall 
have to go into the country. 

If the Museums and Collections to be seen in 
Orvieto are not as remarkable for specialities as those 
of Volterra and Tarquinia-Corneto, the contents are 
abundant and in some instances deserve much study. 
For instance, the striking remains of some of the 
details of an Etruscan Temple (discovered, I think) in 
the Valley to the North of the City. These are of 
terra-cotta Jieads and antefixae of fine workmanship, 
comparable to and of great resemblance to those from 
a Temple of Civit^ Ca'stellana (now in the Etruscan 



ORVIETO 261 

Museum of " Papa Giulid " in Rome. An abundance 
of the black bucchero-ware is to be expected in a 
city so near to Chiusi. There are some here with 
reliefs, especially interesting, as exhibiting designs of 
Assyrian or Eastern decoration. I noticed a large 
one in particular in high relief. It is of a procession 
of musicians headed by a sphinx with a male head 
(full-faced). He is encountered by another sphinx 
with the head of a monster. If the musicians and the 
chariot-driver and other figures be Etruscan, one is 
led to think that the Etruscans were very like the 
Assyrians. There are few vases here of the grand 
style, — but a very large number '(too many of them 
broken) of what may roughly be called the second 
class. Many large vases with black figures on buff 
and saffron coloured backgrounds. And ^the process 
reversed) many buff figures on a black ground. 
Many of the figures upon these vases are warriors 
and therefore wear vizors, — which, at first sight, 
gives the impression that they are masked. Some 
of the '* Eye " ^ type of vase are here. It has beeii 
Jnentioned as prevailing at Vulci. 

Many of the vases which have been called Or- 
vietan, — of the kind which as such were noted in the 
remarks made about Chiusi — these, with reliefs of 
flowers and plants, have been gilded and silvered 
and were manifestly made in imitation of cups of 
metal ; this style seems to have been a late one, 
— probably under 200 B.C. Another style of vase 
is, I think, also peculiar to Volsinii. It is that of 
the " oenochoe " type, (with swelling body and rather 
a pinched mouth) unfigured, — decorated with broad 
stripes generally of a brown colour, — the field being 
of an orange -red. Sometimes the colour is almost 

' The "eye" decoration seems to have been an Egyptian idea 
originally. The "eye" meant in Egypt "good luck." 



262 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

of a pink coral tinge, although never quite approach- 
ing to the delicate pink tint of the later Arretine 
ware. I noticed many specimens of this terra-cotta 
vase in the Faina Museum (opposite the Cathedral). 
The show of bronze articles is not very abundant ; — 
chiefly of culinary vessels. And the mirrors '(specchi) 
are scarce, and these for the most part not incised. 
Gold ornaments are still rarer. A few rings and some 
buttons or bosses merely. The smaller bronzes are 
much corroded. But there is a bronze wrist and 
hand remarkable for workmanship. One would have 
liked to have seen the statue of which it formed a 
portion. Doubtless carried off by Coruncanius amongst 
his three thousand trophies. Two skulls have been 
placed in the Museum without any comment or 
description : I do not know if placed here to reduce 
the thoughts of the frivolous, or to give a greater 
depth of local colouring to a scene that is already 
fraught with our mortality. I examined them, — 
(knowing nothing of phrenology or ethnology,) won- 
dering whether they could be assigned to Pelasgian, 
Umbrian, Etruscan, or perhaps to that earlier period 
still, when " wild in woods the noble marquis ran." 
They are round, with eyes of deep wide orbital -index : 
*' brachycephalous." There are arrow-heads of flint 
and bone hard by with rude, sunbaked vessels and 
even fossil teeth of beasts extinct, from prehistoric 
tombs in which some of the lowest classes of 
Etruscans, I suppose, also seem to have sought their 
final shelter. These things arouse problems which, 
if not beyond the reach of our souls, suggest a world 
of speculations as to what Races the Etruscans dis- 
possessed when they swept this place into their 
net. It would seem from such evidences a Neolithic 
one. 

I found a visit to Signor Mancini's collection of 



ORVIETO 263 

antiquities in the City fully as interesting and as 
instructive as one made to either of the Museums. 
This gentleman's name has long been known as that 
of one of the most distinguished Arch^ologists in this 
part of Italy. From his property have been obtained 
some of the most valuable spoils of the Orvieto tombs. 
From time to time the results of his researches have 
passed into many a museum or private collection, and 
Florence, I think, has been notably enriched by him. 

I gathered from his remarks that he was quite 
satisfied that Orvieto was the Etruscan Volsinii, an 
opinion which, as has been mentioned, is now general. 
He seemed to me also to favour the idea that the 
site of the celebrated Temple of Voltumna should be 
placed here ; yet so many cities have made the same 
claim, without, it seems to me, any substantial evi- 
dence, that we have to conclude that the site yel: 
remains to be discovered. Orvieto must be con- 
tented, m'eanwhile, with the possession of a temple 
only second in importance, that of " Norcia " i the 
" Fortune " of the Etruscans. In fact, some of the 
remains of this Temple, with the ex-votos found in 
it, have passed into the possession of the Florence 
Museum, — that inexhaustible repository of Etruscan 
art. 

Signor Mancini considers that Orvieto, for th^ 
abundance and for the various styles of the terra- 
cotta vases found in the tombs, is not inferior !to 
any other Etruscan site. Those reddish striped vases 
to which allusion has been made, he thinks to have 
* Livy has mentioned the famous temple of the Goddess Norcia, 
He mentions that the Etruscans marked the flight of years by fixing 
nails in her Temple. We may jsuppose the nails to have been of 
a size appropriate to the occasion, and of a form not easily to be 
fraudulently imitated. The practice, considering the artistic 
ingenuity of the Etruscans, seems to have been childishly simple 
for so advanced a Race. 



264 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

come from one of the Ionian isles arid would thetefore 
call the style " Ionian." Looking at the large num- 
ber of his Etruscan scarabei, many of them of dark 
red cornelian, — he was of opinion that the Etruscans 
only shaped them, and that Grfeek artists carved 
the design on the reverse side. From that opinion 
of his, and others expressed in conversation, I 
gathered that he had not an exalted opinion of 
Etruscan art. Yet he was in favour of the Etruscan 
origin being from some part of Asia Minor. For 
my own part I consider that very provenance to 
be strongly in favour of their artistic capacity. 
Signor Mancini says that in the vicinity of Orvieto 
many remains of Temples have been unearthed. Cer- 
tainly the remains of the details in this Museum, 
in the relics preserved at Florence, and in other 
collections, bear out his statement. Signor Mancini " 
did not pretend to the possession of a very valuable 
collection of antiquities at present. Yet many of 
them are very interesting as being actual products 
of Orvieto. His greatest finds have long ago passed 
into other collections. Thus, any deficiencies you may 
find in the Museums at Orvieto are to be explained. 
One remarkable instance of a famous Orvieto Vase 
having passed elsewhere may be noted. It is one 
of the Panathenaic Amphorae wliich were made for 
presentation to the victors at the games in Greece. 
This example is of blackish-purple figures upon a 
red ground. The subject is " Athena presenting 
prizes to Athletes." It is said to be one of the oldest 
vases in the world and to have come from Magna 
Grsecia. It is in the Florence-Etruscan Museum. 
And having touched upon the subject, perhaps it 
will not be out of place to point out some of the 
other remarkable Orvieto spoils which are also housed 
in that Museum. 



ORVIETO 265 

From the Sepulchre known as the ** Crocifisso del 
Tufo " (Podere Conce Scorticaio) come some of the 
best Orvietan Vases, notably a Juno and Hebe, with 
full-length bearded warriors, — all yellowish figures 
upon a black ground : a first-rate work of some 
Greek Artist. Next to the case in which this fine 
vase stands is an Archaic capital of a column having 
at the angles rude heads of goats on either side of 
a human full-face. This came from the same Tomb. 
The above-named sepulchre has been reproduced in 
the Courtyard of the Museum. I believe, as in 
other instances of representations of tombs at 
Florence, this tomb has been bodily transferred from 
the original site. 

A " forma originale," the original mould or 
" matrix " of a large and beautiful Greek head, — 
almost life-size it is, with the hair elaborately dressed 
with two long '* follow -me-lad " ringlets falling from 
on either side of the neck. The mould is perfectly 
preserved and any number of casts could be produced 
if desired. Some ivory tablets worked in low relief 
of seemingly Assyrian or Egyptian designs, recall- 
ing very much some of the Gnossos work with which 
we have lately become familiar. An entire collec- 
tion (Saulini) of the silvered vases decorated with 
wreathed flowers and plants, of which mention has 
been made, and which probably date after Volsinii, 
had been transferred to Bolsena. Of bronze work 
the really magnificent warrior's outfit which was 
transferred to the Museum from one of the tombs 
of the " Sette Camini," — a few miles from where 
we are. This warlike trophy is of gilded bronze, 
the cuirass moulded in the form of the human breast ; 
greaves and a very large shield, the rim of which is 
embossed with a Greek pattern. Most of the contents 
also of the " Tomba del'la Cannicella " of bronzes 



266 IN ANCIENT ETRUEIA 

and terra-cotta, discovered by Signer Mancini, and 
whence he also obtained many of his private collec- 
tion ; (and finally to close this imperfect list of the 
Orvieto trouvaille now in the Florence Museum) 
a famous warrior's helmeted head in the stone known 
as •** nenfro," placed upon a finely-carved pedestal 
which served as a cippus in a sepulchre, and being 
probably unique of its kind. 

To visit Poggio del Roccolo, the site of the painted 
Tombs known generally as the " Sette Camini," 
we have to make a trip of two or three miles to 
the South of Orvieto. They are on one of the farms 
belonging to the Abbazia of Saints Severo and 
Martino, and it was in the winter of 1861-62 the 
discovery of this Necropolis was made. And in 
precisely the same manner which disclosed the 
Necropolis of Vulci. A contadino was following the 
plough when one of his bullocks made a stumble 
into a hole and revealed the presence of a sub- 
terranean chamber. A noted local excavator of the 
time, Domenico Golini, was called in, and having 
obtained permission from a Cardinal Tosti, (the 
administrator of the possessions of the aforesaid 
Abbazia,) he proceeded to make a systematic excava- 
tion of the farms. His researches proved very 
successful, and he was enabled to demonstrate the 
existence of a Necropolis. The tombs yielded very 
valuable results in all kinds of Etruscan antiquities. 
It was not till the following year, however, that the 
two famous painted tombs were disclosed. It was 
fortunate that facsimiles of the paintings (princi- 
pally by Connestabile) were made very soon after 
the discovery ; for what with the pernicious eff"ect 
of the admission of the air, and what with the 
attempts first made to secure the paintings to the 
wall by means of metal supports and wires, and 



ORVIETO 267 

finally thfe atta:cks of insects, (a kind of spider 
especially evincing a curious partiality for preying 
upon the colours,) the world was very nearly losing 
altogether these priceless productions of an ancient 
artist. These two tombs were situated beneath ^ 
wooded bank. The practised eye of the excavator 
served him so well that he was enabled to hit upon 
the exact spot. Digging through the superincum- 
bent earth that lay above and around these long- 
concealed tombs he pierced to the exact road which 
led to them and came plump upon the entrance of 
the chief sepulchre. This, excavated out of the tufa- 
rock, which in this country is called " matile," con- 
sists of one large quadrangular chamber. The 
vaulted roof was carved into beams and rafters, and 
so ifar did not present any difference from that of 
the generality of tombs in Etruria. The painting 
with which the whole chamber was adorned com- 
prised two distinct compositions, separated from each 
other by a central divisory wall. Upon the left 
of the entrance was a scene entirely given up to the 
representation of the preparations for a banquet. 
Upon the right were the ancestors of the recently 
defunct. These, all reclining upoii a set of luxurious 
.couches, — two to each couch, — and crowned for the 
most part with wreaths of laurel, — ^attended by 
musicians who are vigorously piping and harping 
to them, — appear to be awaiting the arrival of the 
Spirit of their descendant. Yet they solace them- 
selves with wine cups and with the strains of the 
musicians (and in one instance one of them appears 
to be singing a " brindisi.") It is very clear that 
they are also expecting their dinners which are being 
cooked with such elaborate preparations upon the 
opposite wall. Upon the right of the entrance -door 
is represented the arrival of the spirit of the de- 



268 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

ceSsed. A youth in profile, clothed in the hymStion, 
(the right breast and shoulder bare,) he drives him- 
self in a chariot drawn by a pair of prancing horses 
and irests his right hand upon the front. He is 
attended by his winged Genius, who, though main- 
taining a rigid attitude just beyond the horses, has 
his wings outspread. He holds aloft in his right 
hand a scroll, doubtless the record of the dead man, 
— a very suggestive scene of the Etruscan faith. The 
male complexions, as is general in the Etruscan 
paintings, are dark. That of this Genius is fair. 
Could it have been that this Genius was a female? 
It seems so ; for the figure wears bracelets, neck- 
lace, and ea;rrings. Yet the Genius has a very un- 
feminine girdle formed of snakes. Behind and 
above the dead charioteer is a portion of the figure 
of a trumpeter bearing his curved trumpet, but 
not playing. Around this scene were formerly 
many legible inscriptions, undecipherable now, and 
probably always unintelligible. On the other side 
of the door remains a portion of the figure of a 
youth holding the " lituus." The " lituus " is some- 
times the sacred instrument of the augurs ; some- 
times a musical instrument. Here, I think, it is the 
latter. The most interesting scene to us is the final 
one, — upon the right of the divisory wall. For It 
is |the last scene in the strange drama which we 
have Ibee'n regarding. Here are our final judges, 
the lords of the underworld, Pluto and Proserpine, 
or as is written above them, " Eida," (or Eita) and 
" Phersipnaei." I imagine " Eida " could be de- 
rived from " Hades " or " Ade." It is a tranquil, 
stately, and imposing scene. Pluto and his wife sit 
opposite each other upon highly decorated seats. 
Pluto wears a lion's skin and a red hymation, and 
bears 0, 3ceptre topped by a serpent. Proserpine 



ORVIETO 269 

wears a white hymation over a red chiton and has 
her sceptre tipped by a dove. A man with his hack 
to them, — (only half his back, for the rest of the 
body has perished,) — is apparently looking out for 
the arrival of him who is to be judged. Two very 
finely 'drawn figures, — one naked, the other clad in 
a: long white robe, — are looking after three-legged 
tables, heaped with large vases and platters. 
Between the figures are two very tall candelabra 
with lighted torches or candles affixed. Every one 
will regard the painting just alluded to as the most 
artistic of the series. It shows strong Greek influ- 
ence and bears great resemblance in treatment ito 
some of the most Greek of the Pompeian frescoes. 
Some authorities have dated these paintings as early 
as the 4th Century. So far as I may be qualified 
to speak, I should date them as considerably later. 
Some little attention might be devoted to the scene 
of ;the kitchen and to the cooks and scullions pre- 
paring ,the banquet. For it is so full of life and 
animation and gives us more insight into the habits 
of the Etruscans, into their complete and even 
luxurious household-life, than any book could do. 
You see first of all strung-up, suspended on a hook, 
upon a wooden frame, an ox, his decapitated head 
lies beneath. A branch of some bush, perhaps rose- 
mary, has been stuck upon it probably to render it 
less gruesome orj to sweeten it. Next to this on a 
longer and frailer support, are hung the carcase 
of a goat, a hare, and two birds, with a larger 
branch introduced for the same purpose, as above 
suggested. Then, upon the farther wall in immediate 
proximity, come half a dozen figures very actively 
engaged in preparing the feast. The first two male 
figures are naked to the waist, and clothed below 
with long white skirts. The man on the right 



270 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

brandishes a weapon, — probably a hammer with 
which he appears to be basting a joint which he 
presses down with his left hand. The other figures 
in different postures are at work upon long tables. 
Two of these forms seem to be women, for they 
have light complexions ; — the others have the bronze - 
coloured flesh always assigned to men. The victuals 
which they are preparing are difficult to denote, yet 
different fruits can be distinguished. The last figure 
seated behind the table, is a musician in the attitude 
of playing the double-pipes. It was impossible for 
the Etruscans to carry on their avocations unless 
to the strains of music. An old writer said of them 
that they beat their bread and their slaves too, to 
a piusical accompaniment. The last figure of this 
group deserves special attention, not only for its 
prominent position in the picture, but because of its 
masterly drawing. A man quite naked, except for a 
red loin-cloth, stands bent over a round table or 
tripod on three legs, whence he is drawing up or 
lifting something which cannot be distinguished, — 
but which probably was something of a liquid nature. 

So far we have seen the avocations of the servants 
employed in the larder and pantry. Now we come 
to the kitchen proper, represented on the wall on 
the left of the divisory wall. 

The first figure, — ^without clothing — is approach- 
ing very cautiously, as well he might, the blaze 
of la furnace, and is seeking to plant a saucepan 
or |an iron pipkin upon the flames. He raises his 
outspread left hand to shield his face against the 
glare. It is a pretty, natural action which the artist 
has rendered very sympathetically. Upon the 
kitchen-range, and well beyond the flames, stands 
another form, wielding in his left hand a large metal 
bowl, with which he has ladled something out pf 



ORVIETO 271 

another vessel which is concealed from us. A little 
further laway are two other figures presiding over 
a table, on which are vases or vessels of various 
forms. Next comes the figure of a monkey, painted 
upon 3, pillar to which he is tied. One knows not 
whether this figure has any signification, or whether 
he is only painted here to fill up a vacant space. 
I may note here that the inscriptions upon the walls 
are lextremely numerous, and some of them have 
been 30 diversely interpreted that it would be un- 
profitable to attempt to describe any, of them. 
Indeed, I think that the two names Eida and 
Phersipnai are the solitary ones in which we can 
place any confidence at all.i From this tomb a path 
cut through the tufa led into another painted Tomb, 
in which was found a sarcophagus containing portions 
of a skeleton. The otherwise empty state of 
both tombs aroused considerable surprise when first 
discovered. There was no sign whatever that the 
tombs had been entered previously. The only ex- 
planation seems to be that one of the tombs 
although so beautifully adorned and even inscribed 
with the names of the family for whom it was in- 
tended, had never been occupied. And that the 
second painted tomb in which the sarcophagus had 
been placed was afterwards abandoned. 

It is curious to hear of an old tradition which 
existed in the village near these tombs. A dragon 
was reported to be watching over subterranean 
treasures in the neighbourhood. One wonders if 
no villagers had ever burrowed in search of this 
legendary treasure. The arts and crafts of the mid- 

» A tomb very similar in decoration exists, or existed, at Tarquinia. 
Aide and Phersephnai are enthroned as here. Although the Greek 
names are rendered in Etruscan, Mantus and Manta are the Etruscan 
equivalents. 



272 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

night plunderer are infinite. His insight into the 
secret places of a Necropolis becomes a second sight, 
e.g., Vulci and Chiusi. 

From the interpretations of some of the inscrip- 
tions it ,is .believed that this sepulchre belonged to 
the family of " Velusi," and that therefore the 
ancestors whom we have seen reclining upon couches 
were " Velusi," and further, (that is valuable in- 
formation) that they were of the " Rasena." That 
name is said to be the original name of the People 
who are known to us as Etruscans. It is not possible 
to say for what town or city, the tombs found at 
" Sette Camini " formed a Necropolis. 

It seems too far from Orvieto, and there, as we 
have seen, has been found so vast a Necropolis 
that it is not necessary to suppose that the Orvietans 
ever icame in this direction to be interred. There 
was a mysterious " Herbanum " in these parts, 
alluded to by Pliny. Perhaps here was the site of 
its Necropolis? ^ 

In his account of these frescoes, the writer has 
described the paintings rather as they were at the 
time of their discovery than as they are at present. 

Yet even then they were interrupted by gaps arid 
deficiencies, as is apparent from the copies then made. 

But if the reader should first acquaint himself 
with one of the sets of copies either at Orvieto 
itself or at Florence or Bologna' before visiting the 
Tomb, he will not find much difficulty in realising 
and in reconstructing the original scenes as they 
were forty -five years ago. 

The writer has scarcely alluded to the second 
painted tomb here, for the frescoes have almost 
perished. With the exception of the kitchen- and 
pantry -scenes, these were very similar in character 
to those of the more famous Sepulchre so far as 



ORVIETO 273 

can be judged. You perceive the same scene of 
a chariot driven by the ghost of the defunct occupying 
either side of the entrance, and which here is sur- 
mounted by a pair of serpents. You observe much 
the same luxurious fcouches occupied by the ancestral 
figures, and the heads and legs and instruments of 
the trumpeters and the pipers, all of whom are half 
submerged in a sea of obliteration. Fragments of 
inscription also remain upon the walls, one name, 
" Thanuevil," is thought to recall that of the 
Latinised Tanaquil. For another, " Vel," is suggested 
Velia or Velius. But why not " Velusi " or " Velu- 
sam," the family to whom the other tomb belonged? 
So much has perished here that it is not easy to 
say whether or no these frescoes came from the 
same hand. Yet as both Tombs seem to have been 
owned by the same family, it seems natural that 
they should have been decorated by the same artist. 
It is true that Orvieto as an Etruscan City 
attracted us here. Yet it is irresistible to glance 
at some of the modern attractions. It would be 
almost discourteous were we not to do so, — however 
superficially. 

Every one remembers the famous miracle of 
Bolsena, because it has been immortalised by one 
of Raphael's great works, in the Stanze of the 
Vatican, and was also commemorated by the erection 
of the splendid Cathedral here. The miracle gave 
birth to the great Festival of Corpus Domini. If you 
are fortunate enough to be at Orvieto upon the 
occasion, you will behold the jealously-guarded and 
enshrined chalice -cloth, borne through the streets of 
Orvieto, in solemn procession, amid a cloud of 
Bishops, and priests, and acolytes, whilst a clang 
of church-chimes, and bells, and discharge of guns 
and fireworks, proclaim to " orbi, et urbi," that the 

18 



274 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Gods have revisited the earth. Very stirring accounts 
have come down to us of the enthusiasm aroused 
by the commencement of this Memorial Temple, by 
Pope Nicholas IV., towards the end of the 13th 
Century. 

All classes vied with each other in lending their 
personal aid, to the labours of the artificers, masons, 
stonecutters and artisans. The Pilgrims who came 
in great numbers to visit the already sacred shrine 
sought to assist the workmen in whatever way they 
could do so, even to bringing them their food and 
drink. Indulgences were granted by two Popes, to 
all who would co-operate, in whatever manner, in 
raising this Cathedral. Orvieto became a sort of 
Mecca. Never could a Temple have been more 
the outward expression of national devotion. It was 
the isymbol of a Revelation, specially addressed to 
the people of Orvieto, and through them, to Italy 
herself. The spirit of the Crusades seemed to have 
poured itself down upon Orvieto. Every stone of 
this great building was as a pious aspiration, a 
votive loffering. All Italy was ransacked for the 
most precious marbles. Unfortunate Rome herself, 
— ever the marble quarry of the world ! — was once 
more pillaged. We are told, too, of all Italy being 
put under contribution, for architects and sculptors, 
for workers in mosaic and painters, and for artists 
of all kinds, from the times of Arnolfo da Pisa and 
Ramo di Paganello, to the Cosmi of Rome, for 
two hundred years. And yet with all the feverish 
energy of so many years, some strange pause there 
must have been in all this labour, if it is true, that 
more than two hundred years elapsed before the 
Cathedral was consecrated. I suppose that mean- 
while some portions of the Building, some of the 
chapels, that were finished, were used for Masses. 



ORVIETO 275 

The first effect upon you of the many -coloured, and 
ghttering Fagade, is that of some gorgeously-illu- 
minated missal. As it were, an immensely magnified 
Breviary of Grimani, unfolded high up into the air. 
The striking similarity of the architecture of the 
iWest Front to that of the Duomo at Siena, will 
be obvious to every one. Lorenzo Maitani, a Sienese 
Architect, in fact, furnished the two designs. The 
type ;of the early Italian-Gothic was constantly re- 
peating itself. The Architects still clung to their 
rounded arches. They yielded so far to new forms 
as to place gables over them. Three entrance doors, 
of Lombard Arches, seemed to be " de rigueur." The 
Fagade generally terroinated in three gables, which 
recalled the old Pediments of Classic Art, with their 
sides compressed. It was, however, an immense step 
in the new Architecture, when, as here, beautiful 
and ornate Spires shot aloft into the air. The 
sculptors of the School of Pisa have surpassed them- 
selves in the wonderful bas-reliefs of the West Front. 
It forms a Bible in marble. All the chief events 
in Scripture seem tO' be represented here, and that 
with [something of the same prodigality of fancy, 
as Orcagna exhibits in the Campo Santo at Pisa,, 
and in the Chapel degli Strozzi at Florence. One of 
the Artists, probably Giovanni da Pisa, revels in 
the invention of unheard-of demons, of undreamed- 
of monsters, in his scenes of Hell, and the Last 
Judgment. One can imagine Luca Signorelli study- 
ing them, with a grim smile of approval, when he 
canie out from his day's work, in that Cappella 
di Prizio, which he has made so enthralling for 
us. He certainly rivalled these reliefs, in the weird 
terribleness of his " Fulminati." You will recog- 
nise again the similarity of this Cathedral to that 
of Siena:, in the striped black and white, or yellow, 



276 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

of the interior. There is one feature within, which 
seemed to me unique, I mean the use of diaphanous 
alabaster for some of the windows. There are many 
beautiful things tO' arrest the attention, but one 
hurries, no matter how often one comes here, to 
Luca Signorelli's Frescoes. 

Some fifty years before Luca Signorelli commenced 
the decoration of this Chapel, Fra Angelico, together 
with his pupil Benozzo Gozzuoli, had painted the 
groined roof, and the lunettes, over the Southern 
Altar, which face you as you enter the Chapel. 
" Christ the Judge," Angels around Him, and a host 
of Prophets, attending Him.; a group that is carried 
up into the Roof above you. It is a magnificent 
work, and may be classed with the " Crucifixion " 
at St. Marco, in Florence, as among Fra Angelico's 
finest productions. Upon the walls on the right and 
left of you are depicted these frescoes of his great 
successor, Luca Signorelli. Luca Signorelli com- 
menced these frescoes, when he had attained his 
sixtieth year, — at the same age, therefore, when 
Milton wrote his " Paradise Lost." Great works 
in Fresco, some of the greatest productions that 
Art had known, had already been accomplished, and 
long before the days of the great Cortonese Master. 
Giotto, and Orcagna and the Memmi in the 14th Cen- 
tury, had executed those masterpieces of fresco 
which we know at Padua, Assisi, Pisa, and Florence. 
Massacio, that wondrous youth, the Keats of Art, 
in his frescoes in the Carmine Church at Florence, 
had brought about a new era in Art early in the 15 th 
Century. 

Benozzo Gozzuoli, some thirty years previously 
to the commencement of Signorelli's work here, had 
loaded the walls of the Riccardi Chapel in Florence, 
with a wealth of colour and form, such as had scarcely 



ORVIBTO 277 

been seen away from the easel productions of Venice. 
But in the " San Brizio " Chapel, Luca Signorelli 
has left all his predecessors in Art behind him. 
For imaginative power he has equalled any artist, 
of any date whatever, whilst for power of execution, 
knowledge of anatomy and of perspective, facility in 
dealing with nude forms, for colour, for grace, for 
proportion, and for all the highest qualities of Art, 
he has been equalled only by the greatest of those 
who came after him. He excels equally in the 
terrible, and in the beautiful. Raphael himself has 
not imagined angels more divine. Orcagna has not 
expressed grief, horror, despair, more vividly. These 
walls represent the flower and crown of Italian Art. 
Nothing so great had yet been done. I shall not 
describe in detail the wonders of these Paintings. 
That has been done well by many writers. I shall 
very briefly mention one or two points that may 
strike the reader. In the picture of the " Antichrist," 
for instance, what magnificent grouping, and what 
studies of the costume of the day ! And where did 
Luca get that fine Renaissance Temple in the back- 
ground? Remark that splendid creature, with his 
arms akimbo, the type of hardened worldliness, of 
the pride of life, — the very Mammon of unrighteous- 
ness ! Upon your left of the picture, in a long black 
robe, and a black cap, stands the Artist, accompanied 
by another and younger man, with bared head. Luca 
looks full at the spectator, and seems to be watch- 
ing him, to see what effect the work has upon him'. 
Listening he seems for the comments of the genera- 
tions, that have come here to admire, for four hundred 
years. The younger man is not, as has often been 
erroneously stated, Fra Angelico. That Artist died 
some forty-five years previously to the painting of 
these frescoes and when Luca was but a youth of 



278 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

fifteen. It is, probably, the portrait of a certain; 
Niccolo di Francesco, Secretary, or Chief of the 
Works, and whom you will see represented again with 
Luca, in a fresco by the latter, in the Opera del 
Duomo, opposite the West Entrance. The Portrait 
of Luca bears little resemblance to the likeness of 
him in Vasari's "Lives" (ist Illustrated Edition, 
Florence, 1568,) and which represents him as quite 
a young man. Note in these frescoes Luca's pre- 
dilection for fair hair. All the figures, except two, 
I think, in the Antichrist, have fair hair, and all, in 
the picture of the " Redeemed." The angels in the 
latter, for grace and beauty, have scarcely been 
excelled. All the emotions of the soul are 
awakened by this great drama of Humanity. You 
are anon awe -struck, by the terrors of the 
" Resurrection " and of the " Fulminati," and now 
you are ravished by the celestial vision of the 
" Paradise." Luca declares his mastery equally over 
the sublime and the beautiful. " Colorito di Tiziano 
e disegno di Michel Angelo " was the aim of Tinto- 
retto. It may be said of Luca Signorelli also. Below 
these frescoes are extremely fine portraits of Poets, 
amid a wealth of design and arabesques. These 
poets have been declared to be those that have dealt 
with subjects concerning the " Future Life." If this 
be so, the " Ovid " is certainly mis -named, and 
being a very old and patriarchial figure, it is 
more probably that of Virgil or Hesiod. It is a grand 
portrait, as is the " Dante." Each poet is surrounded 
by a series of designs, as though in relief. They, 
doubtless, represent subjects from the works of each. 
But they require most minute study. They are 
difficult to make out. (The whole of them had been 
under whitewash.) 

There is another work of Sigi\orelli iri the niche. 



ORVIETO 279 

(behind the beautiful Pieta of Sc^lza), aii " Entomb- 
ment." Scalza's work should not have been permitted 
to block out the view. After" such visions of beauty 
you will not care to hunt up other pictures in the 
Cathedral, though the Cimabueish " Madonna," by, 
Lippo Memmi, is curious. The famous Reliquary, 
in the Cappella del Corporale, which contains the 
precious chalice -cloth, will not be overlooked. It 
is a miniature silver model of the fagade of the 
Cathedral, Sienese work of the 14th Century. 
iThere is such an original version of the " Annun- 
ciation " by Mochi, at the High Altar — a fine marble 
work in high relief. The Virgin is seized with 
indignation upon receiving the heavenly message, and 
makes as though she would repel the Angel and fly 
from the scene. There are two fine marble altar- 
pieces in the transepts. The ** Visitation," also in 
ihigh relief, designed by the famous Veronese, San 
Michele, and carried out by a youthful prodigy, Mos- 
chino, at the age of fifteen, son of Simone Mosca. 
The other, the " Adoration of the Magi," is by the 
latter. There is a great deal of decoration in marble, 
arabesque, and ornamentation, to admire here. 
Another of the fine things to be seen in Orvieto is 
the Tomb Monument to Cardinal de Braye, or di 
Brago, in the neglected and deserted Church of San 
Domenico. It is by Amolfo di Cambio, or Arnolfo 
di Lapo, 1282. It is of that pretty, but afterwards 
somewhat hackneyed type, of Angels withdrawing 
curtains from the monument. You should take the 
fine old Palazzo del Popolo, or Podesta, upon your 
way back. The Lombardo -Gothic windows of the 
1 5th Century are particularly striking, from their 
size and width,. 



280 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

City— Position, History. 

Orvieto occupies so commanding a position upon 
this isolated Hill that it seems to be much more 
lofty than it is. It is with surprise that you learn that 
the height is but 1,165 ^^^t above sea-level, consider- 
ably less high therefore than Cortona and Volterra, 
and even lower than Perugia (1,300 feet). Never- 
theless the thirty-four Popes who sheltered themselves 
here in mediseval times seem to have been unmolested 
by their enemies, and the Romans must have found 
Volsinii in Etruscan days an exceedingly difficult 
place to subdue. With that exception we do not hear 
that the City played any great part in history, nor 
have any distinguished men, with the exception of 
Popes, left their mark here. The artists and 
architects and builders of the Cathedral were all 
foreign importations. The one artist whose name is 
connected with the City, Pietro di Puccio, or Pietro 
da Orvieto, seems not to have worked here. For his 
chief works are found in the Campo Santo of Pisa. 
The Popes resident here may have been too occupied 
to encourage art. Some of them gave their attention 
to, 'the fortifications, and very beautifully too, but 
not with the aid of native artists. Cardinal Albornoz, 
(who was fond of that kind of work,) built the 
Fortress as he did that of Spoleto, in the 14th Cen- 
tury. Most of that of Orvieto has disappeared, and 
the site has been converted into public gardens. Here, 
too, is the famous Well, the Pozzo di San Patrizio, 
createcj by Antonio di San^allo for Clement VH, the 
last of the resident Popes, and who had fled here from 
Rome after the monstrous pillage of that City in 
1527. 

Orvieto should interest Englishmen, for Adrian IV, 
Breakspeare, (what a suggestive name for a peace- 



ORVIETO 281 

maker !) their only Pope, was the first of the Romaii 
Pontiffs to govern Christendom from this dominating 
hill-refuge. The site of the Fortress just referred 
to is one of the best places for admiring the grand 
views to be obtained from Orvieto. The green and 
undulating hills and the valleys of the Chiana, 
Paglia, and Tiber rivers, and perched upon summits 
of the Umbrian Mountains Castel del Pieve (where 
Perugino was born) and Perugia, — Chiusi and, 
perhaps, Spoleto, make a splendid picture. You may 
descend, too, through the most picturesque postern- 
gate of the old walls and thence ascending to the 
North-East, enjoy, from the spot where Turner 
painted, his particular view of the City. Or, (and 
I think that view quite unsurpassed) you can leave 
Orvieto upon the South-West and make for the old 
half -abandoned Convent of St. Teresa which stands 
upon a wooded height. Thence you will see to the 
most favourable advantage the superbly coloured 
brown City rising up upon her isolated Mountain 
with many a tower and spire, 0,nd above them all, pre- 
eminent for grace and beauty, the flashing fagade 
of the lovely Duomo. From this point the City is 
most imposing, and it is difficult to believe that the 
population is under nine thousand. 

During one of my visits to the Cappella di San 
Brizio, a priest of the Cathedral, assuming that 
pictures were my hobby, accosted me and offered to 
show me his private collection. I thought that now 
perhaps the moment had arrived when I might come 
across some work, the production of a native artist, 
and which would cause me to modify a carelessly- 
expressed opinion that Orvieto had no native school. 
I was not so to be gratified. My friend .showed 
me with considerable rapture a large number of 
fourth-rate pictures which he had amassed, he said, 



282 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

during a seven years' residence in Rome, They 
proved to be of the usual quahty which can easily be 
acquired by any one with small means and smaller 
taste, in the numerous picture -dealers' shops in any 
large City. Yet the encomiums lavished upon his 
acquisitions 1 This was Guercino, that was Leonardo 
da Vinci ! Even the mighty name of Michael Angelo 
was attached to another of these indifferent produc- 
tions. And the prices demanded were commensurate 
with the names. 

"Of art-collections which ourselves we make 
How fond we grow for the collector's sake ! " 

Loosely to parody Butler 1 

But I was really grateful to this reverend virtuoso 
for the sight of a fine old ceiling. It was a well- 
preserved piece of old brown carved wood, painted 
and ornamented with quaint arabesque and artistic 
designs. 

It was probably of the 15th Century. Doubtless 
in the ancient dwelling-places of this old city many 
such works still linger. In many of these picturesque 
streets, you come across fine doorways and windows, 
and architectural details, which seem to promise you 
further treasures within. 

BOLSENA (ORVIETO). 

A drive to Bolsena from Orvieto naturally suggests 
itself. Having seen the splendid monument erected 
in honour of the most famous of modem miracles one 
desires to visit the spot where the miracle had its 
birth. The trip there does not take long to accomplish, 
being under fourteen miles. The road is very much 
up and down, and as you occasionally have to ascend 
higher than the Orvieto -hill, it may be imagined 



ORVIETO 283 

how beautiful and varied the views are. The 
descent to the Lake of Bolsena, on the shores of 
which stands the modern country-town, is very 
abrupt. 

The httle Church of Santa Crispina, the patron 
saint of > the place, is rather pretty and con- 
tains some good frescoes. At one altar there is 
a very good presentation of scenes in the Life of 
Saint George. Poor Saint Crispina was drowned 
in the Lake ; — ^one of the earliest of Christian 
martyrs. The Church contains some antique relics, 
a Roman sarcophagus amongst them. 

A much later sister in misfortune of Santa 
Crispina was disposed of in a similar way, — not 
because of her creed, but in that she had become 
inconvenient to her relatives at Ravenna, especially 
to Theodatus, her cousin. This was the celebrated 
Amalasuntha, Queen of the Goths and daughter of 
Theodoric. She was imprisoned upon the small 
island of Mertana yonder, and was drowned or 
strangled here (both, perhaps) in the year 534, by 
order of Theodatus. 

The Altar of the Miracle in the Church of Santa 
Crispina, beneath a stone canopy, is very small. It 
does not at all suggest the magnificent scene of 
Raphael's fresco upon one of the walls of the 
Vatican-Stanze . 

I imagine that visitors to this celebrated shrine 
are not numerous, — if I can judge by the extremely 
warm reception accorded to myself by the Sacristan 
of the Church. He had got together a heap of 
coins, — for the most part undecipherable, — which he 
produced after that he had done the honours of 
the Church and Shrine. Of these, with other 
remnants of ancient times, he was anxious to dis- 
pose. " We have," (he proceeded to enlighten me, 



284 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

on the habits of the inhabitants,) " but two diver- 
sions in our Httle town ; going to Church and drink- 
ing our famous good wine," a combination of ideas 
truly Itahan. The hue of his nose and his genial 
loquacity seemed to me evidences of the frequency 
of the latter diversion. He gave me ample account 
of the size of the fish in the lake, but I was unable 
to judge of the accuracy of his narrative, as I did 
not see a specimen. If they be as large as he 
declared, pne is unwilling to contemplate the fate 
of the two unfortunate ladies who were flung into 
the Lago di Bolsena. I was much amused by my 
Sacristan's pronunciation of the name of the poor 
Queen of the Goths. He persisted in terming her 
Mala Santa, in large distinction, — in his own mind, — 
between her and the real Saint — the " buona " Santa 
Crispina. 

The antiquities of Bolsena, such as they are, are 
wholly Roman. They consist of columns and capitals 
and inscriptions, very fragmentary and without any 
special interest. A Roman amphitheatre is to be 
traced in the neighbourhood. It was once asserted 
that the famous sculpture of the " Lottatori " — ^now 
in the Uffizzi Gallery — was found here, but a better 
authority gives Rome as the place of its discovery. 
Several Etruscan tombs have been found in the 
neighbourhood of Bolsena, notably at San Lorenzo 
Vecchio, or near it, and numerous vases, bronzes, 
and jewellery discovered. The most remarkable 
articles found, (now in the Vatican -Etruscan 
Museum) near Bolsena, came from the tomb of the 
Herenzii ; a large bronze vase, and a patera 
bearing an Etruscan inscription. Yet Bolsena 's 
ancient fame has been considerably discounted by 
our certainty that Orvieto is the only genuine 
Volsinii. And Bolsena's former light also has been 



ORVIETO 285 

eclipsed by the presence of the awe -stirring mediseval 
miracle. Not to mention the remarkable death of 
Pope Martin IV here, caused by excessive indul- 
gence in Bolsena's eels and Bolsena's wine (the 
Sacristan was right, then, as to the fame of both !). 
And here may be recalled the Pope's inimitable elegy 
upon himself. He seems to have experienced much 
suffering, caused by the manner of his unintentional 
suicide. He exclaimed, when dying : " Ah ! my 
God, what sufferings we have to endure in the cause of 
Thy Church ! " Endless have been the " bons mots," 
and sallies of wit called forth by the Pope's illness 
and death. There is something, indeed, in the death 
of the Head of the Church, I know not what, that 
always stirs Italians into paroxysms of laughter. 
Even the great Dante himself, — ^amongst whose 
immense qualities a sense of humour has not been 
reckoned, — wrote a few lines upon this tragical event 
which were jocular rather than sympathetic. (II 
Purgatorio, Canto XXIV.) 



CHAPTER XVII 

VITERBO 

It would be agreeable for the historical conscience 
were it possible to admit that Viterbo contains the 
site of the famous *' Fanum Voltumnae " of the 
Etruscans. But those who tell us so have no better 
reason for the claim than that they think it probable. 
And some set up a claim: of the same kind for 
Montefiascone and for Orvieto, which disproves the 
authenticity of any one of them. 

The origin of Viterbo is indeed plunged in 
problem. Those who gave her the name of " Urbs 
Vetus," — thence Viterbo, have much to answer for, 
and we cannot assist them. Why was the Urbs 
Vetus ever abandoned for " Surrena," a quite in- 
distinct and vanished site, reported to have been 
in the vicinity of Bullicame, (certain mineral baths 
near, that have been famous for their curative powers, 
time out of mind)? And why and when came the 
" Vetus Urbs " to be re -occupied? No writer, (and 
there have been many daring writers local and 
foreign who have invested her with all kinds of 
legends), has been bold enough to give the fname 
of some Trojan or Greek hero as her Founder, as 
in the case of so many Italian Cities. She does 
not even appear in the pages of a Roman Historian. 

286 



VITERBO 287 

Cicero^ who mentions Castel d'Asso as a fort or 
fortress, does not refer to the existence of a City 
in the neighbourhood. His silence is suggestive. 
He calls that place " Castellum Axia." Tradition 
has asserted that the site of the Episcopal Palace 
was once occupied by an Etruscan Fortress, or by 
a Temple of the Etruscan Hercules, — " Ercle." My 
own opinion, (not likely, I am afraid, to dispel the 
mists of ages,) is, that if Viterbo were ever jan 
Etruscan settlement, and afterwards abandoned, it 
was because the inhabitants were driven out by the 
eruptions of the Ciminian Mountains. The country 
in very remote times has been overwhelmed by 
volcanic agencies. Lava, tufo, peperino, scoriae and 
pumice make up the geological formation. You will 
be struck by the similarity to Vesuvius and Monte 
Somma, of the Ciminian Range. However that may 
be, for space will not admit of any geological dis- 
quisition, Viterbo did come to be re -occupied. If 
not Etruscan herself, she is surrounded by better 
authenticated Etruscan sites, and we can admire her 
for the celebrity to which she is justly entitled, of 
being one lof the oldest and most beautiful of Italian 
Cities. If she has not Etruscan walls she is sur- 
rounded by the finest and best preserved mediaeval 
defences to be seen in Italy. The badge of the 
City should have been a Goddess with a mural crown, 
rather than her actual one, a Lion with a Palm-tree, 
or sometimes with a banner. Ap old verse describes 
her as, *' having Crowned her tresses with antique 
towers," and appropriately enough, as she is said to 
have once possessed 197 of them. You will see 
two (at least pi them of quite an unique beauty. 
Square Towers with 'grand arches excavated upon 
one side of them, and running up almost to the 
summit. One of them stands near the Porta 



288 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Romana. It was erected in 1270 by Raniero Gatti, 
the name of a family much connected with Viterbo, 
to protect the Roman Road. The Arch in this Tower 
contains a fresco representing the Virgin with the 
Infant and Saints. Another saying that styles 
Viterbo as pre-eminent for beautiful fountains is 
amply justified. There are at least a dozen of more 
or less beauty and some of them as old as the 13th 
Century. Notably, the Fontana Grande in the Piazza 
Grande, — where five streets meet. The Fontana S. 
Pietro juear the gate of that name ; the Fontana 
deir Erbe in the little Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, 
and the Fontana della Rocca in the Piazza of the 
same name. The two last mentioned are of the i6th 
Century ; that of " La Rocca " being by that 
great artist Vignola, whose name is so connected 
with the neighbourhood of Viterbo. Indeed, through- 
out Viterbo there are babbling sounds of cooling 
waters which must be singularly grateful to her 
people in the heat of summer. They make much 
pottery here of a brownish-red glaze ornamented 
with white flowers. And it adds much to the pictur- 
esqueness of the scene to see the women filling 
these pitchers at the numerous fountains. No City 
is more connected with the Popes, not even Orvieto. 
Viterbo was within such easy distance from Rome. 
A misunderstood or harassed Pope could so rapidly, 
when his faithful subjects waxed less faithful, find 
himself upon the safe side of the Viterbo battle- 
ments. Vexatious Charles' and Fredericks who were 
always vexing the souls of too indulgent Holy Fathers 
icould, for a time at least, be kept at a respectful 
distance. Not that such monarchs were for long 
to be avoided. We read of one monarch's candi- 
date receiving the triple crown in this very City, 
not without obstinate delay upon the part of the 



VITERBO 289 

Cardinals. But hei^e the Popes did succeed some- 
times in finding a few breathing moments. The. 
Viterbo pi to-day might still be the Papal strong- 
hold. You seem' as you enter the City to be re- 
entering the epoch of militant Popedom* Never 
c^puld you have seen so many Papal escutcheons 
hanging pendeint, or sculptured on to Palaces and 
houses ; Bardo, Del Monte, Pignatelli, Delia Rovere, 
Farnese, Albani, Medici, are the most conspicuous. 
But we sho:uld have to mention the names of some 
five centuries of Popes. It would be an agreeable 
study here, if you wished to do so, to " get up " Papal 
armorial bearings. I doubt whether you would see 
more in Rome herself. For six Popes in the 13th 
Century alone were elected here. But here I must 
pull myself up and apologise to the, reader for stray- 
ing into the devious paths of medicevalism instead 
of following the direct path of the Etruscan 
Lucumones and their sepulchres, to; follow out which 
was our pbject in coming here. 

The writer has suggested that this City has few 
or no traces of an Etruscan origin. Yet if Viterbo 
is not the " rose," she may urge that she has lived 
amongst Etruscan roses. Castel d'Asso and Ferento 
within five or six miles of her, Notchia, yetralla, 
Bieda, and Toscanella, and Bomarzo rather more 
distant. Yet all can claim her as their centre, — 
ais their mediaeval centre at least. It has been, 
I think, because so much of the vicinity, has been 
sown with Etruscan sites that native writers have 
so persistently urged the claims of Viterbo to be 
an Etruscan city. And iriot only that she was 
Etruscan, but that she also possessed that very 
Temple of Voltunma to which Orvieto also puts in 
a claim. Tp; clinch the matter without any more ^.do, 
some extremely bold person erejcted a Church and 

19 



290 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

christened it Santa Maria in Voltumna, and further 
declared that Vetulonia was also in Viterbo ! I have 
a; strong suspicion that it was a famous native forger 
of documents and other mediaeval curiosities called 
Annius who should be saddled with these crowning 
impostures. Dhly, a suspicion, I said, yet one provoked 
by the shady antecedents of the said Annius or Annio, 
" Fra Giovanni Nanni," to give him his proper 
designation. One grieves to learri that he was ^ 
Frate. The chief ascertained forgery of this lettered 
Frate being a sham edict of a Lombard King, 
Desideratus, inscribed upon a marble slab. That 
he should further have assigned a prae -Trojan origin 
to Viterbo was but a venial sin, for his aim, evidently, 
was to " cut out " Cortona, which boasted no less 
a founder than Dardanus himself, the after-founder 
of Troy I To obtain your first sight of Etruscan 
antiquities (whencesoever obtained) which may be 
housed in Viterbo, — you must enter the Courtyard 
of the Palazzo Pubblico or Communale, where ranged 
around the Fountain you will behold five or six 
inscribed sarcophagi surmounted by recumbent 
effigies. I attribute the provenance of these antiqui- 
ties to Cipollara, whence many similar trophies have 
come. Certainly they have not been discovered iii 
Viterbo. (But the view from the balustrade of the 
Courtyard is so enchanting that we may well be 
spared any insistent curiosity upon this point.) The 
Museum is small, dark, and ill-assorted, being a 
jumble of pictures and Etruscan antiquities. It is 
worth visiting, for the antiquities have been drawn' 
from all the sites round about Viterbo. And thus 
you will learn, — if the contents be not very import- 
ant, — how excessively numerous these sites are. And 
even Vetralla, — rather a squalid village, — whence you 
have to drive for Bieda and Norchia, has yielded 



VITERBO 291 

a latge number of these Etruscan "finds." Other- 
wise, you will not come across in Viterbo anything 
pointing to the Etruscan period. 

Accordingly it behoves the seeker after Etruscan 
" roba " to betake himself to the most famous, — 
and fortunately to the nearest, — place of Etruscan 
tombs known as Castel d'Asso. This place cannot 
be further from Viterbo than six miles, and the road 
for the most part is fairly good going, cut through 
the native tufa with a high bank on either side clothed 
with copse and bush. Yet when you leave this high- 
road, — ('* deep " road rather) — and have to turn on 
to, country tracks diversified by small farms and 
cottages of the contadini, such is the ignorance or 
indifference upon the part of the toilers of the soil, 
that you spend several hours in an excursion that 
otherwise would be compressed into three. And if 
it rains a ,little, the " deep " road becomes deeper 
and the cross-roads " crosser." So you must be pre- 
pared for eventualities and act accordingly. 

The tombs of Castel d'Asso are ranged along 3, 
low cliff in a deep, thickly wooded ravine. For- 
merly, it is believed, both sides of the ravine were 
thus crowned and that forty were to be discerned. 
It is riot so to-day. I could not count more than 
a dozen, — ^and all upon the .Western side, possibly 
a quarter of a mile in length. Yet so many have 
gone to rack and ruin, what with the cliffs having 
split and fallen, and clambering bushes and young 
trees having possessed themselves of the debris — 
that it has become impossible to define the number of 
the sepulchres. The characteristics of those that have 
not yielded to the influences of time or to freaks 
of nature are simple. A slightly defined cornice 
runs along the top, — over that generally an inscrip- 
tion, a foot in lejigth sometimes. Beneath the cornice 



292 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

is a long, high door boldly traced, — often widenimg 
to the base, and the entrance to the Tomb (foir 
the door is a dummy), far, beneath the base. I 
imagine that the door was not intended to take 
any one in^ the deceit was too transparent* Pro- 
bably it was only intended to guide the owiier of 
the tomb when he had occasion to reopen the entrance 
below. The height of each fagade, then, is the height 
of the cliff, which varies from 12 to 30 feet. The 
inscriptions on the face of the tombs are generally 
of large, bold characters. One supposes that in most 
instances they were those of the families here in- 
terred. One word that frequently occurs has been 
deciphered as " Ecasuthines," ' and interpreted 
"sacred to," or "in memory of." Some of the 
men of light and leading have said that this valley 
was the burial-place of a city called Axio oi; Axo. 
Yet Cicero when he spoke of this place as " Castel- 
lum Axia " would have referred to such a City if 
it had had existence. 

The letter " o " was anathema to the Etruscans, 
so " Axio " is altogether put out of Court. I am 
surprised that our men of light and misleading (?) 
(I fear they were) did not think of that. An old 
Castle, or a portion of one, standing upon an 
eminence pverlooking the ravine is responsible for 
the name the jcpuntrymen give to the place. Foi: 
they call it " Castello," or Castel " tout court." 
But Cicero's " Castellum " is better and more re- 
liable. Castel d'Asso being so prominent, has been 

» "Ecasuthines" or " Ecasuthina." The word "Suthina" has 
been observed upon Etruscan bronze mirrors also, and was 
interpreted as here, viz., " dedicated to," " sacred to." I suggest, 
with diffidence, that the first part of this compound word may 
have been equivalent to the modern Italian word " Ecco I " 
"Behold ! ' " Here is!" followed by "in memory of." 



VITERBO 293 

much visited, ransacked, and, of course, so pillaged 
that it seems improbable, unless all the woods were 
cut down and the whole ravine cleared out, that we 
shall find out much more about it. 

In the time of Mr. Dennis, (or rather before) 
many valuable discoveries were made and a Signor 
Bazzichelli (I think that was his name) had a Museum 
chiefly composed of " roba " from this place, for 
Castel d'Asso has produced abundant vases dating 
from 600 to 250 B.C., in some cases with Etruscan 
names of deities. Many sarcophagi, too, have come 
from these tombs, which, as I have remarked, were 
long ago overhauled. There is a long, bare plateau 
lying north of this Necropolis showing traces of 
old roads which appeared to me suggestive of the 
proximity of a City. Unless it were here, it will be 
always most difficult to suggest another site for 
'* Surrena," or for a City called — something like 
** Axia." This plain, being in such close touch with 
the Necropolis, could scarcely fail to disclose some 
valuable traces of antiquity were it to be excavated. 
Had the travelleil tO' Castel d'Asso and other Etrus- 
can sites in the neighbourhood a choice in the matter, 
it would be far better to visit them in the winter. 
In the spring the whole of the Ravines of Castel 
d'Asso are so ovetgrown with copse, bush, briar, and 
undergrowth generally, that much not only of the 
monuments, but of the lie of the ground, is hidden 
from you. And it is hard work forcing your way 
Ithrough the tangle and obstructions ; and it is 
slippery climbing also. 

Toscanella is also one of the most famous of 
Etruscan sites, — but can scarcely produce credentials 
so substantial as those of Castel d'Asso, for no 
traces pf sepulchres are to be visited nor even seen 
there except some high up in a, gliff over a ravine, 



294 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

which much more probably were those of some pre- 
historic race. Although a large chamber in a rock 
on the road leading from Toscanella to Corneto is 
credited with having produced some antiquities now 
in the British Museum. Indeed, it is rather for the 
excessive beauty of the site, — for the picturesque 
features of the town, and for the extraordinary interest 
of the two remarkable Churches that you will visit 
Toscanella, or Tuscania, or Tuscana as it was 
formerly called. 

That name very probably was Etruscan. It is 
curious, however, if that was the Etruscan name ^ 
that it should so resemble the modern word 
'* Toscana." Toscanella lies upon the river Marta, 
and should you have driven here from Corneto, (to 
the South-West of Toscanella) as you may very well 
have done, it will please you to greet an old friend 
in this familiar river. Toscanella may well be 
styled the City of Etruscan Sarcophagi. More 
have been unearthed here than anywhere else, and 
I am informed, — though I have not yet seen it, that 
last year (1908) a gilded one was discovered. Even 
now ,they bristle in the town. In the cloister of 
S. Maria del Riposo I was shown thirty. And ten 
are perched upon the walls of the Spedale. 

* "Nothing gives us so clear a picture of the universal domination 
of Italy by the Etruscans as the geographical names. From North 
to South all places are of this origin." W. M. Lindsay in his intro- 
duction to the recent new edition of Dennis's "Cities and Sites 
of Etruria." 




ta^UL: 



CHAPTER XVIII, 

VITERBO AND ENVIRONS ; TOSCANELLA 

The Secretary of the Mujiicipio told me that hq it 
was who had sent the fine large lion of peperino to 
the Florence Museum;. (It is to be seen in the Court- 
yard of that Museum.) Other statues of lions have 
been found at Toscanella. They were placed over 
the tomjbs, inot within them. Several sarcophagi from 
Toscanella are in the Vatican-Etruscan Museum. Yet 
no sarcophagus found at Toscanella can equal ,the 
" Bacchic " in, the Florence Museum. The recumbejit 
figure is, I think, a male one although of a feminine 
character, as is often found in representations of 
Bacchus. The head crowned with grapes is charac- 
terised by a graceful languor. The form clothed in 
highly-worked drapery and with a heavy torque upon 
the neck, rests, comfortably supported upon the left 
arm, on cushions. The right hand caresses a vase 
which appears to be empty. A be^-utiful frieze of 
two birds with outspread wings on either side of a, 
wreath or garland, — and with a bunch of carefully 
rendered grapes at each end, runs below the figure. 
The complete work is one of xmusual symmetry and 
beauty. 

These sarcophagi are considered late; works pf th^ 
3rd or 2nd Centuries B.C. 



296 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

The most curious, — though probably the smallest 
discovery on record ever made at Toscanella, was a 
pair of dice with Etruscan words instead of the 
numbers. Here was a clue at least to some of the 
Etruscan language. But they were so variously in- 
terpreted by the learned that it is to be feared we 
are no nearer the clue than we were before. This 
unique example of the gambling proclivities of an 
ancient race should have been preserved for the 
contemplation of their modern descendants — who are 
not adverse to games of chance it is believed, — but it 
has passed into the possession of a sister-nation and 
rests in a museum in Paris. The principal tomb at 
Toscanella was discovered so long ago as 1839 by 
Signor Campanari, an enthusiastic connoisseur of a 
very well-known local f;amily. He erected a small fac- 
simile of the tomb in his own garden and furnished it 
with many of the precious objects from the original 
tomb, and many sarcophagi with recumbent figures 
were especially prominent among them. The three 
Campanari brothers were all devoted to archaeo- 
logical science and were amongst the foremost and 
most fervent followers of Etruscology. Scarcely an 
Etruscan site but is associated with the name. 

Most readers of Dennis will remember what ^m 
esteem and even admiration that author had for the 
Signori Campanari. The hope of seeing some one 
of these local celebrities and of seeing some of 
the archaeological harvest which they had gathered 
together, — was an additional motive for visiting 
Toscanella. 

How suddenly the stream of existence alters its 
course I So deep and steadfast to-day, to-morrow 
how shallow and halting I I |c&,lled at the Campanari- 
house, " Signor Campanari was then actually mori- 
bund ; — and Signor Carlo? He had died long ago. 



VITERBO AND ENVIRONS 297 

And the third brother was resident in England." Even 
the garden-tomb was topsy-turvy and full of piles of 
wood, casks, aind what-not. A few recumbent figures 
were lying about upon their sarcophagi uncared for 
and neglected ; — and all was over ! Yet the brothers 
Campain3,ri will live in the sympathetic pages of 
Mr. Dennis, 

The sepulchres of Toscan,ella are generally sub- 
terranean like those of Vulci. Murray's Guide, men- 
tions 3- '* Grotta della Regina " consisting of "a 
large chamber with two massive columns supporting 
the roof, (presumiably a vaulted one) and remarkable 
for its labyrinth ; a passage cut in the rock and corti- 
municating from one wall of the chamber to the 
other." 

This labyrinth should throw sonie light upon those 
constructed at Chiusi. This tomb is not now 
visible, nor, so far as I coul|d gather from the; 
townsfolk, even known ; — a| land where all things 
are forgotten I The City of Dismen^bered, — of 
Uinrerhembered Tombs ! So a " Regina " even, is as 
evanescent as a " dini forefather." " WJiat shadows 
we are and what shadows we pursue I " as I think Sir 
Thon^as Browne said. Some things, however, in 
Toscanella, have not yet faded and are even 
cherished, — tardily. And two of such memorials of 
the Past are the two wonderful Basilica-Churches of 
San Pietro ajid Santa Maria. They stand upon the 
hill of S. Pietro a couple of hundred yards without 
the town ; a hill which it is thought was the Etruscan 
Arx or Citadel. S. Pietro, — or rather the crypt of the 
church occupies, it is said, the site of a Roman Bath 
beneath which again was an Etruscan Temple. 

The Basilica of S. Pietro, — although the sum total 
of four different epochs of builditig, from' the 9th 
Century downwards, — is distinctly a prae-Lombard 



298 IN ANCIENT ETRUEIA 

Church, of Romanesque architecture, and dates long 
before the introduction of the so-called Italian-Gothic 
style. Throughout all the reconstructions, demoli- 
tions, additions, raisings and lowerings and lengthen- 
ings of portions — and details, its original and 
principal features have been left undisturbed. It 
remains to-day what it was, the best representative 
of Italian religious Art of the 9th Century. 

The grand simplicity — almost classical — of the 
fagade, is admirably relieved by the large rose- 
window in the centre. Below this runs an arcaded 
gallery which is nearly touched by the spacious arch 
of the doorway. This fagade is thrown out in strong 
relief by a long pediment in rear of it, the arms of 
which rise nearly to the rose -window, and below each 
wing there is a closed arch. This special feature I 
have not seen before in any building, and I imagine 
that the original architect must have had present in 
his mind, or before his eyes, some design of a 
Pagan Temple, — then in existence, perhaps, upon this 
spot. The curious sculptures of beasts, birds, angels, 
aiid devils introduced in many portions of this re- 
markable fagade may very well be the first instances 
of such ornamentation in Italian Architecture. The 
Nave consisted originally of four round arches, — two 
more were added in the i ith Century, — when the nave 
was lengthened. The rather short columns supporting 
the arches are of ancient marble and are believed to 
have come from Etruscan or Roman temples. But I 
should judge their capitals to be of the 12th Century, 
for at that epoch most of the present existing orna- 
mental work such as the paving, the tesselated pave- 
ments, the mosaics, and other details were added. It 
is also probable that the rose-window of the fagade 
was then introduced. Nor is it likely that it could 
have formed part of the original fabric. 



VITERBO AND ENVIRONS 299 

Indeed, the first Church here must have been the 
Crypt, situated below the high altar, and which took 
the place of the Roman Bath already referred to, 
and of which many of the columns supporting the 
crypt undoubtedly formed the chief features. And 
the Roman altar (or is it a portion of a sarco- 
phagus?) upon which the font stands may have also 
been another relic of this classic site. 

The Church seems to have beeii ionce covered with 
frescoes, of which there are many remains. It was 
formerly the Cathedral. But abandoned and neg- 
lected as it became (so much so that it was till of 
recent years without a roof) the S. Jacopo Church 
within the City replaced it as such. 

For frescoes we must go to the Basilica of Santa 
Maria which stands near S. Pietro, but lower down 
the hill, — in quite a retiring position. Between the 
two Churches rises a fine example of a mediaeval 
Tower. It has played, no doubt, a prominent part 
in its time, as have the other remains of a similar 
kind within the City. And when we are reminded 
that some of that bellicose family, the Sforza, settled 
down upon these hills, we may suppose that a great 
deal was happening then to render forts and towers 
desirable. 

At first sight the fagade of Santa Maria seems to 
be a roug'h copy of that of Sain Pietro, and possessing 
also a rose-window above the same sort of small 
arcade above the arched door. Yet it lacks the 
crowning pediment as in the other Church. It seems 
probable, — Sap,ta Maria being the most ancient by 
a ceintury, — that this fagade furnished the model for 
the other. The interior of both Churches is very- 
similar also. Sajita Maria has four arches of dis- 
similar size, — whereas San Pietro has six. 

The columns of ancient marbles and their capitals 



300 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

differ very little iii detail,— ajid not jat all in character. 
Both Churches possess the same quaint sculptures 
without. Sainta Maria has a curious and very, ancient 
pulpit of the 13th Century. The left aisle of the 
Church in particular has undergone much recon- 
struction, as you will perceive by the scoring of 
arched doors upon the walls. There was probably 
a cloister upon this side, the arches of which have 
ibeen blocked up and thus incorporated with the 
Church. 

The Apse is covered with frescoes. These extend 
from beneath the rounded arch above the high altar, 
and are carried right up to the beams of the roof. 
The subject of the frescoes is that of the " Last 
Judgment." Our Saviour as Judge stands alone in 
an oval Nimbus. The Apostles are seated on either 
side. Upon the right of the Saviour are gathered 
the Elect, — the Virgin and other figures stand nearer 
but below Him'. Upon the left of the Saviour is a 
frightful scene of the ■' Dannati " with a huge figure 
of Satan triumphant in front. It is a very beautiful 
composition, though a very early one, — of the 14th 
Century, and of the School of Giotto it is said. One 
hopes that Luca Signorelli came over from Drvieto 
to see these frescoes. He might have studied them 
before the commencement of his own ** Last Judg- 
ment." 

Now that these Churches have been taken over 
by the Government, and the long-needed repairs of 
elementary necessity have been completed, it may 
confidently be hoped that they may be preserved as 
amongst the most valuable heirlooms of Italy. For 
of this very early epoch there are no more precious 
monuments to be seen in this country. 

In a country such as this, so strewn with anti-« 
quities, it may be supposed that the fifteen miles 



VITERBO AND ENVIRONS 301 

betwixt Toscatiella and Viterbo have not been unin- 
vestigated. Two ancient sites at least have been 
brought to light — very near the high-road, Cippolara, 
and " Macchia (* wood ') del Conte»" These tombs 
produced many Etruscan antiquities. When cleared 
of their contents the proprietors filled them' up, so 
that it is not worth while for you to leave your 
carriage to go in quest of them'. Nor did I hear that 
any further discoveries had been niade. 

Musarnas, just seven miles from Viterbo upon this 
road, was another Etruscan site whence Signor Bazzi- 
chelli,! the discoverer, obtained many of his anti- 
quities. It seenls curious and it is worthy of comment, 
considering what a vast number of sepulchres have 
been discovered all over this district, (a; portion of 
what was formerly known as the Patrimony of St. 
Peter) — that no authentic name of any great City 
should have been preserved. Which was the capital 
City, for instance, to, which this district was subject? 
Was it Tarquinia or Volsinii — or, some vanished 
City? As we have data for the assumption that Castel 
d'Asso was within the " Lucumonia " of Tarquinii* 
it may be inferred that the country, — Toscanella in- 
cluded, — up to Viterbo, was also within her sphere of 
influence if not possessed by her. We can only 
suppose that Toscanella; and Monte Eiascone, 
Bomarzo, and Ferento, and many other Smaller 
Etruscan sites whose names have perished, were but 
links in the great chain which united them' to 0: 
parent -City. Military posts they were, defending 
the commercial and agricultural interests of teach 
district, and maintaining the sphere of influence each 
within its own borders. For it has to be remembered 
that each City wa,s the capital of a King^dom' exer- 
cising its jurisdiction civil and military throughout 
* Vide Castel d'Asso. 



302 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

the province with very well-defined and unquestioned 
authority. We may a,ssume that in the Etruscan 
federations, the rights and privileges of each State 
were quite as accurately defined, and as jealously 
preserved, as in; any one of the Cantons of modern 
Switzerland. 

That admirable system of Government it was that 
made Etruria beyond any question the paramount 
power in Italy for many centuries, so long as no 
Power arose to compete with her. 

And then the weakness inherent in all such forms 
of government betrayed itself. Etruria lacked a. 
supreme and paramount centre. There was no guid- 
ing hand to weld together and to wield in time of 
stress the strength of the entire nation. Lacking 
cohesion she could be conquered in detail . Thus one 
City after another succumbed, and although the 
struggle was a long one, in this manner her ruin was 
completed. And as the contemplation of so many 
Etruscan sites in the vicinity of Toscanella has evoked 
these reflections, — they will equally apply to Castel 
d'Asso, Vetralla, Bieda, and Norchia. The two last- 
named are to be easily visited from Vetralla, a site 
which has produced so much, but where nothing 
ancient or suggestive of antiquity is to be seen. 

Norchia and Bieda are both about equidistant 
from Vetralla, — but as they lie in contrary directions 
they could not be seen on the same day. Especially 
as the resources of the poor village of Vetralla are 
extremely restricted as regards horses and vehicles. 
Indeed, it was with great difficulty that a horse was 
obtained to proceed so far as Bieda. Bieda, a 
humble and poverty-stricken village, almost maintains 
its ancient name of " Blera." 

No Etruscan site, too, that I have seen, maintains 
a more venerable aspect. If one were told that here 



VITERBO AND ENVIRONS 303 

there was still a remnant of the Etruscan people quite 
cut off and immune from any touch of extraneous 
blood, one would believe it. And one could also 
believe that until one's own humble footsteps had 
tottered over the extrerriely insecure footpath of this 
desolate hamlet, no explorer from the outside world 
had ever before penetrated into these fastnesses. 
Arid therefore as to a Mecca of untidy picturesque- 
ness, to a haven of wild and primeval unsimilitude 
to any spot that you have ever dreamed of, it is worth 
your while to have journeyed unto Bieda. For, of 
the customary Etruscan antiquities, Bieda has not 
been prolific. Perhaps the one arched bridge, — 
some way below the site of the present village, may 
be Etruscan. I fear that the three -arched bridge, — 
although suggestively styled Ponte del Diavolo and 
a model of ruined beauty, — near the village, is not. 
Dver the more ancient bridge ran the Roman Via 
Clodia which we shall comie upon again at Ferento. 
The three-arched bridge, — the centre arch of which 
is shattered, — although you can pass over it, — seems 
to have connected Bieda with another picturesque 
village, possibly Etruscan also, called Barberano, to 
the North. The road there runs uphill through very 
precipitous ravines crowned on either side by lofty 
crags. The road is scarcely used now, and though it 
can be traced is nearly obliterated. The Etruscan 
town (Blera) would appear to have occupied the 
ridges to the East of the modern village and which 
overhang the river. Very likely the Etruscan town 
may have included the village also. An ancient road 
runs along immediately beneath these ridges, which 
show traces of mouldings and signs of ancient 
masonry. This old road may be considered as having 
been in use to convey the dead to the Sepulchres with 
which the ravines — chiefly in the Eastern direction — 



304 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

^re honeycombed. They rise above each other in 
terraces and are shaped into the forms of houses with 
sloping roofs and moulded doorways. Those pf 
Norchia', upon the other hand, bein_g of a classical 
type of art* Valuably, suggestive are these of Bieda 
of the domestic architecture of the Etruscans. But 
Time and the elements have considerably marred the 
architectural effect formerly presented by these badly 
sculptured cliffs.' The stone is tufa, and is therefore 
particularly susceptible to atmospheric agency. 

I cannot — not having visited Norchia (ancient 
name Orcle — or more probably Ercle) — draw com- 
parisons between the two sites. Yet from narratives 
and pictures I imagine Bieda to be guite inferior inl 
the abundance and variety of sculptured tombs, as also 
in: the artistic nature and character of their carvings. 
The absence of inscriptions in both places is very 
remiarkable, and in that respect makes them inferior 
in interest to Castel d'Asso. I found it impossible 
to elicit from' my contadino -guide any information 
about Bieda. Nor was he reliable even about the 
name of the river, — although he made a " shot," 
calling it by the name of the Village. But I have 
observed that the inhabitants of such ancient places 
rarely have a name for their rivers and streams. 
It is always " foso " or " fosso " or " fiumecello." 

Ferento. 

Ferento is a pleasant drive under five miles to the 
north of Viterbo. It well repays a visit as being the 
site of an important Roman City. The very exten- 
sives ruins prove that ', of the threatre especially. 

' The sculptured cliffs of Bieda, Castel d'Asso, and Norchia, seem 
to bear a great resemblance to those of Lycia as described by 
Sir C. Fellowes. 



VITERBO AND ENVIRONS 305 

Ferentinum was a Roman colony, and amongst other 
claims to notice was the birthplace of the Emperor 
Otho. Ferento was long supposed to occupy the site 
of an Etruscan City. But the more modern school 
of archaeologists place the Etruscan City opposite 
Ferento to the North-East and upon the other side 
of one of the ravines which so intersect this great 
Etruscan plain, and precisely upon the high ground 
known to-day as the Farm of S. Francesco. Here 
and on the adjacent lands have been discovered so 
much in the way of antefixse, — terra-cotta vessels, 
friezes, fragments of polychrome painting adhering 
to terra-cotta, ajnd especially wells and passages for 
drainage. 

Nor are there wanting, in a locality named Prato 
Campo (below S. Francesco), remains of an earlier 
period, those of the Iron Age. Etruscan relics not 
having been found in Ferento, — we must therefore 
pronounce that that City did not stand upon an 
Etruscan site, and that fine and massive and imposing 
as are the blocks of masonry upon which the brick 
arches of the Theatre are reared, they are not 
Etruscan, but fashioned in the Etruscan manner. 
That Ferento was long held by the Romans and was 
one of the most important posts held by Rome upon 
the Via Clodia is not only attested by the splendour 
of the great Theatre, — but by the extent of the ruins 
and by the traces of the numerous roads connecting 
with other sites to the North. ^ 

I think in no provincial town have so many fine 
Roman works of sculpture been unearthed. For it 
has been systematically excavated, as the Court of the 
Etruscan Museum at Florence can testify. A whole 

' The Via Clodia, between the Via Aurelia and the Via Cassia, 
ran to Populonia — running through Veii, Blera, Saturnia, and other 
Etruscan sites. 

20 



306 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

row of noble statues there, is exceedingly impressive. 
A mediceval town of some importance stood here in 
recent times, — so that a walk over Ferento is sugges- 
tive. Here you stumble over a Roman column or 
a frieze, and there over an arch or a post of mediaeval 
work. The Mediaeval town of Ferento did not long 
preserve its independence. For Viterbo, as the 
adopted home of many Popes, was foremost in the 
ranks of the orthodox, and Viterbo quarrelled with 
Ferento for failing to observe what Viterbo had laid 
down as the direct path in religious art. The 
particular heresy of the artists of Ferento was jn 
representing the Saviour upon the Cross with the eyes 
open instead of closed as in Viterban art. So that 
Viterbo had to enforce her dogma, " vi et armis." 
And hence the expungement of Ferento, ; and hence 
the extreme difficulty of threading your way through 
the debris of two Cities of long-separated epochs. 
To us in search of old Etruria, the interest of the 
district of Ferento, is the congeries of Etruscan sites 
that exist in the vicinity. 

Every village that you see around Ferento is 
upon the site of an Etruscan one. Magugnano, 
Rinaldone, Grotte, S. Stefano, S. Egidio, Lunica, 
Castellara are some of their modern names. Some 
of them are upon the other side of the River, 
Acquarossa or upon the banks of the other streams, 
in this part the Guzzarella and the Vezza. For the 
ravines below Ferento are plentifully watered and 
intersected by rivulets and torrents which have carved 
out those small promontories and tongues of land 
which the Etruscans always selected as favourable fot 
sites. Yet in the course of ages, the continuous 
action of running water added to the unstable 
character of the soil around Ferento, has much inter- 
fered with the durability of the buildings and the 



VITERBO AND ENVIRONS 307 

sepulchres. If possible, you should obtain a glance 
of a fine bridge of two lofty, massive arches, near 
the aforesaid village of Rinaldone, known now as 
" Funicchio." For it is possible tliat portions of it 
are Etruscan, — the central buttress from which the 
two Arches spring, being especially characteristic. 
The Bridge is formed of large parallelopids of 
peperino -stone. The parapet consisting of two rows 
of smaller blocks and slightly projecting over the 
arches gives an ornamental effect to the whole 
structure. Either arch rests upon a rocky bank, un- 
impaired by time or torrent. Some have thought 
this bridge to be an Aqueduct, because of its narrow- 
ness ; (it does not exceed 7 feet in width). In 
any case it does not seem to have been much in use, 
and was almost concealed in bush and briar until the 
authorities of Viterbo lately released it from its hiding- 
place. So long as you are at Viterbo and within 
its environs you will always be confronted when you 
look to the Westward by the fine eminence of Monte - 
fiascone. It is about four miles distant from Ferento. 
In Etruscan history it must have been an important 
place. The Etruscan name is not known, although 
some Archaeologists have ventured to place the 
Temple of Voltumna there. 

Excavations there have revealed sepulchres con- 
taining much that was of value. Yet that was long 
ago, and now no trace of antiquity is to be seen. 
Some of the " trouvailles " passed to Florence, 
amongst which were some bronze candelabra, a pair 
of large gold earrings of unusually massive character, 
and a " cista," quite of the Palestrina type — but in 
** bucchero "-ware, not in bronze. Otherwise the 
associations of Montefiascone, and very slight they 
are, are wholly of a modern character, as is suggested 
by the name of the Town which does not seem to 



308 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

Idonnect itself with anything more stirring than a 
bottle of wine. More than " stirring " regrettably. 
For here it was that another Ecclesiastic went down, 
or " under," fatally subdued by the too generous 
character of the wine of the country. 

Bishop Fugger (of a German family it seems from 
the name) was a confirmed wine-connoisseur, and 
when he was " en voyage," was generally preceded by 
his valet, whose duty it was to find out where the best 
wine was located. At Montefiascone it proved to be 
" hors concours," in the opinion of the bishop. Both 
the fame of the wine and of the Bishop have been 
handed down in the monument erected to the Bishop 
in the Church of S. Flaviano. Upon either side 
of the Bishop's mitre rests a sculptured goblet. That 
was relentlessly realistic, and has been accentuated 
by the epitaph written by the valet in which he gives 
" Est, Est, Est " as the name of the wine which had 
proved fatal to his master. Valets are not notorious 
for hero-worship. So this valet may have considered 
that he was only carrying out the traditional role by 
disclosing in perpetuity the frailties of his whilom' 
master. 

Bomarzo is another Etruscan site, seven miles 
from Ferento, — more important than Montefiascone, 
judging from the remarkable works of art recovered 
from the Sepulchres, one of which was frescoed. 

Evidently the Tomb of a prominent and wealthy 
family. " Vel Urinates " was the name inscribed 
upon the sarcophagus found within. A sarcophagus 
oiF a rare type it is, being modelled in the form of 
a temple and with serpents upon the roof. It is now 
to be seen in the Etruscan Department of the British 
Museum. It is not thought to be a very early work. 
The decorations of the Tomb were of a florid 
character, of caricature -heads, sea-horses, and 



VITERBO AND ENVIRONS 309 

dolphins. The other and principal tomb found 
here was not painted, and was distinguished for its 
architectural details. A pseudo-Doric column 
supported the Roof ; that side of it which faced the 
entrance door was rounded. The inside of the tomb 
was lined with masonry, an unusual feature in the 
tombs excavated out of the natural tufa. Yet doubt- 
less such an arrangement has tended to preserve 
the tomb. The entrance door was of the style which 
is so often called Egyptian, in which the door 
widens to the base. It is of a common character 
enough in Etruria, as we have seen at Castel d'Asso 
and at other places. This Tomb was known as the 
" Grotta della Colonna" and is quite near to the 
" Tomba Dipinta " noticed above. The Etruscan 
Bomarzo lay two miles North of the present village, 
and was situated upon the brink of a hill facing the 
modem village. 

Many articles of bronze, e.g., tripods and specchii, 
swords, and even bows came from the Bomarzo- 
tombs. Perhaps the most remarkable of them all is 
the circular bronze shield with a lance thrust upon 
it now placed in the Vatican-Etruscan Museum. It 
still retains the wood-lining and its leather braces. 
Yet more important than all such trouvailles, is the 
famous alphabet traced upon a terra-cotta pot or 
small vase, and also in the Vatican -Etruscan Museum. 
It is the nearest approach to the Etruscan Alphabet 
that has ever been found. For; it contains the fewest 
letters, viz., 20. All the other instances having been 
of 22, or in one case of 25 (Caere), and the letters do 
run, contrary to all the other alphabets found, viz., 
from right to left, which stamps this example as 
Etruscan, although there are four letters in excess 
of the orthodox Etruscan 1 6. Moreover, this Alphabet 
is deficient, exactly as was the Etruscan, in the Greek 
signs of Beta, Gamma, Delta, Xi, Psi, Eta, and both 



310 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

O's. Yet, as this includes some other Greek letters 
which were absent in the Etruscan language, it brings 
the total to 20. 

It may be as well, then, in this place, without being 
too lengthy, — for I should not wish to weary the 
reader with a dissertation upon the Pelasgian or 
Etruscan Alphabet, — briefly to recapitulate those 
which have been hitherto found in the country. 

That of CerVeteri (Caere), an alphabet and primer 
— now in the Vatican -Etruscan Museum. 

Colle (near Volterra), upon the wall of a tomb. 
Chiusi (Museum), three alphabets upon slabs of 
tufa, — considered very early, yet written from left 
to right. 

Grosseto (Museum), probably from Rusellas. 
All of these, I think, must be considered as of 
very early Greek, probably Pelasgian, and this from 
Bomarzo as Etruscan. We may then draw one or 
two conclusions in considering these Alphabets' : 

I St. That the Pelasgian and Etruscan charac- 
ters were similar, though the former Race made 
use of more characters. 

2nd. That the Etruscans did not always make 
use of the same number. 

3rd. And in the course of time they did not 
always insist upon reading from' right to left. 
These vagaries upon the part of the Etruscans 
have made it additionally difficult, may I say im- 
possible, for us to grapple with their language. 
And for themselves too, it would appear, from 
their having burdened themselves with such 
etymological intricacies even in their tombs. 
It will remain an everlasting problem to us why 
they did so, and why. they should have estimated 
them amongst their greatest treasures, to be numbered 
with their jewels and their gold and their precious 
vases, and to be held on to through all the ages. 



VITERBO AND ENVIRONS 311 

The reader will have gathered from the preceding 
chapter that it is without the walls of Viterbo where 
Etruscan associations prevail. Yet within the walls 
of the City he will find ample compensation in the 
beauty of the site and in the striking features of a 
wholly, mediaeval town. Situated at the foot of the 
Monte Cimino upon a wide and elevated table- 
land — of some i,ioo feet above sea-level — and 
commanding a panorama unusually extensive for a 
City not perched upon a hill, her position is quite 
unique in this part of Italy. The Ciminian range to 
the North increases the picturesque effect of the City. 

The walls of the City have been referred to in 
the preceding chapter, I shall not now touch upon 
them in detail, but will proceed to take a brief survey 
of the streets and of the chief monuments within the 
perimeter of those walls. The very early mediasval 
character of the enceinte, — some of the towers, e.g., 
go as far back as the 13th Century, — seem to be of 
a much earlier date than that of the houses generally. 
If iwe except the Cathedral and the Episcopal 
Palace and half a dozen other palaces, I should say 
that the street -architecture does not suggest a period 
previous to that of the 15th Century. The large 
square doors and windows, an arcade and a courtyard 
here and there, a dilapidated flight of steps outside 
a dismantled palace, could, I think, all be referred 
to the earlier years of that century. .While abundant 
decorative details on many of the houses, in the shape 
of small pyramids and obelisks, torch -like ornaments, 
cherubs' heads, scrolls, and twists, rather of the flam- 
boyant order — remind you of a still later period such 
as we in England associate with the Jacobean style of 
architecture. There are even to be observed one pr 
two Palaces of distinctly, baroque style. Yet upon 
the whole Viterbo may be declared to be one of the 



312 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

oldest and most picturesque Cities in Italy, although 
I cannot agree with the strange pronouncement of a 
recent writer who discovered a resemblance between 
Viterbo and Nuremberg. The Jordan and the 
Mississippi have been also, I believe, declared to be 
very similar. 

Of all the notable sights in Viterbo it seemed to 
me that the frescoes in the '* Cappella dello Spoza- 
lizio " in the secularised church of Santa Maria della 
Verita, by Lorenzo da Viterbo, were the most 
attractive. 

Little is iknown of the artist, especially as some 
call him Lorenzo di Pietro Paolo, — and others refer 
to him as Lorenzo di Giacomo da Viterbo. It is not 
even certain in what year he was born or how long 
he lived. Fortunately we know the year of the com- 
pletion of these frescoes, 1468-69 — or rather of 
one of them, for the date is there inscribed. It is 
said that he decorated the whole of the interior of 
this large Church of the Verita with his frescoes and 
that the work employed him twenty -five years. The 
Church must have presented a splendid spectacle if 
all the frescoes were equal in beauty to those of the 
only existing portion in the " Cappella dello Spoza- 
lizio." Those recording the "Marriage of the Virgin " 
are upon the left wall (on the left as you face the 
■Altar). Over the Altar is the "Assumption" with 
Saints. Upon your right are depicted ihe 
" Nativity " and the " Annunciation." Upon the 
arches, lunettes, ceiling, vaults, everywhere are saints, 
apostles, and other figures. The "Annunciation" 
has been allowed to decay. We may well lament that 
cruel neglect if it were as beautiful a,s the " Nativity." 
The attitude of the worshipping Madonna bending 
over the Infant, with the reverential approach of St. 
Joseph (represented as ai. very old man) is one of the 



VITERBO AND ENVIRONS 313 

loveliest things to be seen in i 5th Century Art. Very- 
fine also is the " Assumption." Over that fresco are 
three Saints, one of them being the Venerable Bede, 
to whom apologies are due for my ignorance that 
he was among the Saints. The " Sposalizio " is very 
pretty, and quaint too, for the artist has seized the 
opportunity of representing the crowd of suitors, — 
and others, arrayed in the picturesque costumes of 
the 15th Century. The suitors all seem to be 
portraits. This picture is dated 1464. 

The Government has at length made of this Chapel 
a National monument. A tardy recognition, it is true, 
of the great merits of these fine works. Apparently 
they have always been valued, for the Chapel is en- 
closed by a very lofty and massive gate of quaint 
iron-work of the 15th Century. And yet some of the 
frescoes have been suffered to decay. These fine 
paintings have been subjected also to some critical 
onslaughts by Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselli. The 
artist is called to task and roundly rated for having 
copied, and that badly, both Piero della Francesca 
and B. Gozzuoli, and also, I think, Melozzo da Forli. 
I believe — were this the place to do so — that these 
charges could be rebutted. As regards Piero della 
Francesca, the only similarity between the two artists 
that I can perceive is that in his frescoes at Arezzo 
he has introduced similar studies of 1 5th Century 
costumes . As for beauty of drawing and spiritualism 
of conception, the Viterban artist seems to me to have 
the best of it. Yet I tnust cojifess that I have always 
considered Piero della Francesca an over-rated artist. 
Perhaps, as in the comparison between Nuremberg 
and Viterbo, I fail to get the right standpoint of view. 
Whether Messrs. Crowe and Cavalcaselli have made 
too little of these frescoes, or I have made too much of 
them, the reader will be able to judge. Yet he will 



314 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

certainly derive much pleasure from the contempla- 
tion of them, being, as they are, by a Master so little 
known. 

There are no great masterpieces in Viterbo. Yet 
the general level is a good one. Most of the altar- 
pieces in the Cathedral and in other churches are 
pleasing. In the Cathedral, e.g., there is a very good 
Christ and the Evangelists by Montagna. It is 
thought so little of, apparently, that it is unframed. 
It has been " restored " and not judiciously. There 
is more than one example of Sebastian© del Piombo 
extant in Viterbo. The Pietk— now in the Museo, 
is the best. The drawing and the painting of the 
Saviour are worthy of the Artist. But he has quite 
failed in ,the figure of the Madonna. Her face is 
commonplace, and inexpressive, and her figure, — 
although the attitude is fine, is quite too masculine. 
The drapery has been re -painted most inartistically. 
Some say that Michael Angelo furnished the design 
for this work. Yet that has been said so frequently 
in the case of S. del P. that you would think that 
he was not capable of a design. 

The Cathedral and the Episcopal Palace,— the chief 
architectural monuments of the City — will be found 
upon the West point of the town and near the Tower 
called of " Galliena." ' Many of the more ancient 
houses are to be found in this direction. It is on 
this site where the Antiquarians have placed an old 
temple of Hercules, and even a Fortress. The name 
of S. Lorenzo given to the Cathedral was favoured 
as being peculiarly appropriate to a successor of 
Hercules.. Both heroes having perished by fire. 
Viterbans hold on vehemently to the idea of 
"Hercules," He is almost a household-God here. 

' This famous heroine's name is at times spelled as " Galliena," 
at others "Galliana." 



VITERBO AND ENVIRONS 315 

Two sensational historical events at least render 
this Cathedral memorable. The savage murder of 
Prince Henry, brother of Henry HI of England, by 
Guy de Montfort, when the Prince was actually kneel- 
ing at the high altar during the Celebration of Mass. 
I think that the assassin was never pimished for his 
crime (upon earth at least). Dante has done what he 
could do by placing him in the Inferno.' 

It was in front of the Cathedral that Frederick 
Barbarossa had to undergo the humiliation — in 
presence of the papal and imperial courts — of hold- 
ing the stirrup of Pope Adrian IV, as he dismounted 
from his mule. That Pope, it will be remembered, 
was an Englishman. It is noteworthy that both these 
recorded events should have concerned Englishmen. 
The Cathedral is not very remarkable inside and is 
rather mean outside. The massive granite columns 
supporting Romanesque arches suggest the spoils of 
a more ancient temple, — which the baroque capitals 
do not. The arches are of small span and far too 
much so considering the imposing supports. The 
pure Gothic-Campanile of the Cathedral is the best 
part of the edifice. The chief monument in the 
Cathedral is that of Pope John XXI . It has suffered 
much from time, which, as it is over six hundred 
years old, is to be expected. Pope John XXI was 
killed in the adjoining Episcopal Palace by the 
falling of a ceiling. It is remarkable that of 
the six Popes who were elected at Orvieto, — 
two should have met with tragical fates ,; — Pope 
Martin IV at Bolsena as we have seen, ^jid 

* Some with apparently good foundation have placed the scene of 
the murder in another Church at Viterbo — which no longer exists, — 
that of S. Silvestro. Yet the Church of the Gesu has succeeded it 
and occupies the same ground. It certainly looks ominous, — the 
entire removal of the former Church. 



316 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

John XXI. The Episcopal Palace hard by is a 
building quaint and beautiful enough to gratify the 
most ardent devotee of mediaeval architecture. A 
huge arch or bridge, built over a ravine and upon 
which half the building seems to rest, forms one of the 
most remarkable effects of Gothic architecture in this 
province. 

It possesses some stirring associations also. In 
the great hall Gregory X and also Martin IV were 
elected Popes. The Conclave was so inordinately 
procrastinating ^ in the election of the latter Pontiff 
— that the Citizens removed the roof of the hall to 
expedite matters. John XXI, who was mentioned in 
the previous page as having been killed by the fall 
of the roof, — had nothing to do with this ceiling. 
It was in another room which that Pope had just 
finished, for he was a Pope much given to archi- 
tectural undertakings, that the ceiling descended and 
put an end to his existence. He was not popular 
with the Viterbans, who considered him as arrogant 
and even accused him of having had dealings with the 
devil. They regarded his fate as the logical result 
of his crimes. In short, they gave a free rendering 
to Horace's line, " Fiat justitia ruat coelum " 
(ceiling). 

You will have pointed out to you from the balcony, 
the garden which now occupies the site of the 
destroyed chamber, — lof which a broken column or 
two still stand warningly. 

The Ponte di S. Lorenzo, which has to be crossed 
on your way to the Cathedral, is said to be con- 
structed upon Etrusco-Romano foundations, and some 

' It may be observed that one of the Cardinals is reported to have 
suggested this method of accelerating the election, by remarking 
that it would " much facilitate the descent of the Holy Spirit and 
therefore the Inspiration of the Cardinals." 



VITERBO AND ENVIRONS 317 

large blocks thereon ate said to be portions of the 
original construction. 

The stream over which it is thrown is insignificant, 
and rarely, I should think, furnishes more water than 
is requisite for ithe needs of the washerwomen-folk 
who are generally engaged in their avocations here. 
Yet it is worth while to loiter a little upon the bridge 
in order to admire the Palazzo Farnese upon jthe 
right. It is a fine building of the 15th Century 
adorned with Gothic windows and the Farnese lilies. 
Paul III is said to have lived here as a boy. The 
courtyard is a good example of the kind. The palace 
has otherwise little to associate with its ancient 
grandeur, and is now inhabited by very poor people. 
The Piazza del Plebiscito is the most noteworthy of 
the public places of Viterbo and where the oldest 
monuments are to be seen. Unfortunately, it is 
precisely here also, where modern institutions land 
.establishments have been housed, — such as the 
Questura, the Municipio, Telegraph and Post-offices, 
&c. The old and picturesque Palazzo Publico, sL 
building of the 1 5th Century, has suffered much 
from these modern requirements. One of the finest 
old towers of the City, known as " La Monaldescha," 
in this Piazza also, has not been improved by the 
introduction of an acutely modern clock. Yet the 
position is saved by two venerable stone lions upon 
columns of peperino who are regarding all these 
modern arrangements with an air of pained per- 
plexity. And no wonder, for they must have sat upon 
their pillars for six hundred years or so and have 
" seen out " several epochs. A Roman Sarcophagus 
stands out of the tiny Church of S. Angelo, over 
the way. It is not a work of very high art, and yet 
as it is said that the fairest woman of Viterbo, the 
Helen of these parts, (Galliena was her right name) 



318 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

has rested within for six hundred years or so we 
should like to know something about her. For 
Galliena is one of Viterbo's most cherished memories 
and a genuine flesh-and-blood reality. And there 
is as much legend current about her as there is about 
the fairest woman of antiquity, Helen of Troy. 
Andromeda or Iphigenia might be another of 
Galliena 's prototypes. For she was upon the verge of 
being sacrificed to a monstrous Sow that used to 
infest this legendary City. 

I do not know whether people used to get up upon 
chairs to obtain a glimpse of this famous beauty as 
they did — (Horace Walpole says) — in the case of the 
beautiful Gunnings. And as they also did — as more 
modern historians report — in very recent years to gaze 
upon another modern beauty. Yet if we can receive 
what has been related of Galliena's charms as 
authentic, she appears to have been little inferior to 
such Venuses, — in the effect that she had upon her 
fellow-citizens, and upon the hearts, too, of besieging 
Romans. But unlike Helen of Troy she was in this 
respect ; that she averted rather than fanned the 
torch of war. For the Romans of her Century de- 
clared that they would no longer besiege the walls 
of Viterbo, — if she would only for once exhibit herself 
upon the Battlements. It is true that at that par- 
ticular moment the Romans had just been soundly 
thrashed. But legend does not concern itself with 
details. Yet, unfortunate it is for this story of 
Galliena, that the Tower which bears her name is 
of a date subsequent by a hundred years to that of 
her own ( 1 1 3 5 ) . 

It would have been well, — notwithstanding this 
slight inaccuracy, — if the chroniclers had closed 
Galliena's career there. It would have been the 
psychical moment. But chroniclers never do seize 



VITERBO AND ENVIRONS 319 

that moment. There is no end to their fantasies. 
And thus they have gone on to give poor Galliena a 
Virginia -like fate, and have declared that her father 
to save her from the importumities of a Roman Baron> 
of the Appius type, had to plunge a. dagger into her 
bosom. And they laid her to rest in that Roman 
Sarcophagus, as has been, reported. The second 
heroine appearing in the chronicles of Viterbo is 
simply named " Anna." Her passport to fame is 
that she possessed hair half green and half red. 
With such slight credentials immortality, then, can 
be secured. Anna might have been an Etruscan for 
anything further that we know of her. One wonders 
that the people of Viterbo did not make of her one 
more of their Etruscan claims. The third and the 
most authentic of Viterbo 's heroines is Santa Rosa — 
the Protectress of the City. 

Yet, wonders have been compressed into her short 
life of eighteen years greater than those of any Saint 
of whom we have record. She was born of " genitori 
sterili" (whatever that may mean). The moment 
she appeared she uttered the words " Gesii," and 
" Maria." When she attained the age of three years 
she restored to life a defunet aunt. Her short life 
was passed in a series of ecstasies, — visions of, and 
interviews with, the holiest and highest Personages. 
Her miracles did not cease with her life, — but I will 
spare the reader further details. Yet she mtist have 
been a remarkably precocious and masterful young 
person. She maintained, or seems to have main- 
tained, the Anti-Ghibeline fervour of her fellow 
citizens, and also of Innocent IV (being a Pope he 
could not have required much persuasion in the 
matter). And to have publicly denounced Frederick 
II. In fact, she was exiled from' the City by the 
Ghibeline Party. She was nearly becoming a Joan 



320 IN ANCIENT ETRURIA 

of Arc, and she was more successful in her advance- 
ment to Sainthood, for she was canonised, or at least 
raised to the rank of Saint before her death. And 
you may see her in a Iglass casket with a golden 
crown upon her head in her own chapel in the Church 
called after her, whenever the Sister of her Order 
(Franciscan) will show her to you. She is very black 
'(the Saint, not the sister) — as black as the mummy 
of Rameses II in the Ghizeh Museum, — Blackened, 
as the sister says, by a fire that sprung up here in 
1357 and nearly reduced her and her chapel to ashes. 
But she arose from her hundred years' sleep and rang 
her bell, and the sisters, hurrying to the spot, put her 
and her Chapel " out." The Sister who showed me 
these blackened remains pointed out with great pride 
that the teeth remained white and intact. She 
appeared to be quite sure that Santa Rosa was only 
in a condition of suspended animation and might 
come to life at any moment. 

So it seems that all Viterbo's worthies are heroines, 
not heroes. Viterbo has had so many titles given 
to her (mostly given by herself), " City of Fair; 
Women," and '* Beautiful Fountains." She is the 
" City of Towers." She " crowns her tresses with 
towers," &c. It would be, perhaps, rude to style her 
the City of False Pretensions. One is tempted to do 
so as one finds here a street called of Vetulonia, — and 
a Piazza there of Voltumna. And it is even to be 
much regretted that another street should be called 
after that reverend Arch-Impostor, Annius. 

Yet whatever deficiencies, and unfounded preten- 
sions in the Etruscan line, are to be attributed to 
Viterbo, no one — (and we have not done so certainly) 
— can refrain from declaring her to be amongst the 
most beautiful of Mediaeval Cities. 

UNVVIN BROTHERS LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON 



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